God of War Ragnarok will be playable this year on the PlayStation 4. Plus, you can upgrade your game later if you decide to buy a PlayStation 5. The sequel to the first God of War will carry on through a Norse mythology setting. It first seemed like the game would be only for the PS5 because of the technological bar it set, but we know now that the game will be on the PS4 as well. And though God of War Ragnarok will not come out until Nov. 2022, we have tons of details on the latest entry into the latest PlayStation Studios game. See here if the game is coming to PC.

When Does God of War Ragnarok Release on PS4 and PS5?

God of War Ragnarok will be playable on Nov. 9, 2022, on both the PS4 and the PS5. If you purchase the PS4 version of the game and upgrade to the PS5 afterward, you will get the digital version of God of War Ragnarok on PS5 at a discounted price. Sadly, it will not be a free upgrade, but this discounted price should help offset some of the financial burdens of being asked to pay the full price twice between two consoles.

Do note, however, that if you have a PS4 disc copy of God of War Ragnarok, you can only upgrade if you have a PS5 that also has a disc drive which you can put your PS4 disc inside.

Differences Between PS4 and PS5 Versions of God of War Ragnarok

There will be some major differences to discuss between the PS4 and the PS5 versions of God of War Ragnarok. However, there is no major change in the gameplay, the story or the game’s content.

The PS5 version will obviously be superior graphically with its power coming from an enhanced SSD, but the difference in price may shift some buyers to looking at the PS4 as a solid alternative. The PS4 version of God of War Ragnarok will cost $60 while the PS5 version will cost $70.

Is the $10 difference really worth it? We will see once the game releases later this year.

God of War Ragnarok will release on Nov. 9 this year on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

Sony announced Gran Turismo 7 shortly after it revealed the new PlayStation 5 console last year. People expected the game would be out in 2021, but now it no longer looks like that will happen.

Sony Interactive Entertainment’s President and CEO Jim Ryan revealed in an interview with GQ that Gran Turismo 7 has to be delayed until next year. Sony’s official statement on the matter has been revealed below.

“GT7 has been impacted by Covid-related production challenges and therefore will shift from 2021 to 2022. With the ongoing pandemic, it’s a dynamic and changing situation and some critical aspects of game production have been slowed over the past several months. We’ll share more specifics on GT7’s release date when available”. 

The last main entry in the series was Gran Turismo 6 released in late 2013 on the PlayStation 3, It is quite weird the game wasn’t a PS4 launch title at the time.

However, the latest game in the series was the spin-off Gran Turismo Sport released in 2017 on PS4. The game didn’t have a smooth launch in 2017 mainly because the game lacked many single player game modes and content. Gran Turismo Sport however got progressively better once more update patches were released in the subsequent weeks after its release.

Death Stranding has been one of the most anticipated upcoming games ever since Hideo Kojima announced the game a number of years ago. Many people were not expecting to see the game this year, but Kojima Productions and PlayStation gave us plenty of announcements this morning, including the release date that we told you about earlier. In addition to that, multiple editions for Death Stranding were also announced, including a very special Collector’s Edition that people will really be wanting.

Beyond the base version of Death Stranding, there are multiple editions to select from that vary in price and the contents included. First is the Special Edition at $69.99, which includes a steelbook case, special Gold “Ludens Mask” sunglasses earning through gameplay, a digital copy of the game’s soundtrack, as well as a behind the scenes making of video for the soundtrack.

For $10 more at $79.99, you can get the Death Stranding Digital Deluxe Edition where you get everything from the prior except for the steelbook case, 10 PSN character avatars, as well as a Gold Power Skeleton, Gold All-Terrain Skeleton, and a Gold Armor Plate (Level 2), all of which are earned through gameplay.

Lastly, we have the most expensive and the best of the bunch with the $199.99 Death Stranding Collector’s Edition. Not only do you get everything from the Digital Deluxe Edition plus the steelbook case, you also get a Ludens keychain, a life-sized BB Pod statue, a BRIDGES Cargo Case to carry it all in.

The Collector’s Edition for Death Stranding is definitely expensive, but it sounds like it is one amazing package all around. As we’ve seen in the past, we’ll have to see when the game comes out if it is actually worth the expensive price tag.

At long last, the day has come where we have found out the official release date for Death Stranding. Everyone will be able to experience the strange and wondrous world that Kojima has created on November 8, 2019. Yes it’s coming out this year!

After a long 72 hours of nonstop teasing, Kojima and company finally revealed a rather lengthy trailer which actually showed off some gameplay. Norman Reedus takes center stage alongside Mads Mikkelson and Troy Baker, and a whos who of an ensemble cast of actors and voice talent in a world where dark monsters have taken over while some humans are struggling to stay alive. The mechanics and gameplay aspects are all reminiscent of Kojimas previous game series, Metal Gear, and on top of that, the system uses the Fox Engine, the same one that was used during Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pains development.

In the trailer, Kojimas ability to mess with our minds is on full display here as it showcases the characters coping with the world around them and what they have to do to try and win it back. Meanwhile, it looks like their will also be an enemy faction to deal with, specifically Troy Baker’s character as he has one of the main cast members captured before he sickeningly licks them on the face.

This has been a long time coming, and what a journy it has been. After three long years of what, who, and where questions, we can finally check this one off the list. The game is coming out this year, and it will be just in time for the holidays. The game is now available for pre-order, which includes a standard and special edition as well as some incentives to pre-order ahead of time. As we said earlier, Death Stranding will officially launch on November 8, 2019 for the PlayStation 4.

You can check out the gameplay trailer here:

At long last, we have something brand new for Final Fantasy VII Remake. Announced today during Sony’s State of Play, we got a brand new trailer for the much anticipated title. While it only clocked in at just over a minute, it was a breath of fresh air, and something tangible which showed that the game was well underway. Square Enix has promised us that more information will be shared during their E3 2019 presentation next month, but at this point, I have a few good ideas of what we can expect to see on the final product of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

It will be drastically different from the original

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but just from watching the gameplay we can see that the Remake will be a far different beast than the first incarnation from 1997. Don’t get us wrong, we love the old Active Time Battle turn-based RPG style that the old Square games of the 1990’s were known for. But everyone that plans to get this game needs to know this first and foremost, it will not play anything like that version in any way whatsoever.

With a camera to the back of Cloud and the command options to the bottom left, its apparent that the mechanics will be more in line with the style of Kingdom Hearts and the long forgotten PSP classic, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. We’ve yet to see more gameplay, but just based on the short trailer we got today, it will be a very different game.

It won’t have episodic releases

This seems to have been forgotten over the past few years, but Square Enix’s original plans for the game were to have multiple “episodic” releases similar to the Telltale games. On top of that, they were shopping it around for a third party to develop the title, only for those plans to fall through. Eventually, the company took the reigns themselves and developed it in house. Since then talks about the game being split into separate parts have stopped almost completely, and for good reason.

Square more than likely decided to just release it as a full title, which is absolutely fine with us. While releasing games as episodes may have worked for other titles, such as the The Walking Dead, most gamers today prefer to have a more full and fulfilling narrative in their products. Square probably recognized this, and when they make their announcement next month, don’t expect them to say the term “Episode 1” with it.

It will launch this year, AND next year

You didn’t misread that. I’m anticipating that Final Fantasy VII will launch this year, probably during the holidays, and next year in 2020. How does this work you ask? Well the answer is simple; two platforms. The game will come out on the PlayStation 4 in 2019, and for the upcoming PlayStation 5 in 2020. Their isn’t any concrete information that this will come to pass, but the signs are all there. Just today, not long after the State of Play presentation, Tetsuya Nomura hinted that the game’s launch plan is almost set. The company undoubtedly has big plans for the title, and launching it for both systems is not out of the question.

Everything has been building up to this point. The long delay so they can finish Kingdom Hearts III, and the new trailer that was shown were all part of Square Enix’s long term plan for the game. E3 2019 is less than a month away and the anticipation is at a fever pitch. We won’t have to wait long though, as Square Enix will take center stage just next month on Monday, June 10th at 6:00 pm PST.

The earliest that most people expected we may finally hear new information about Final Fantasy VII Remake was going to be during Square Enix’s previously announced E3 stream next month. Sony surprised us all, however, with a brand new trailer during their State of Play event earlier that we told you about earlier. This promised more information soon, but the wording on their Facebook post after the fact made it seem like the game might not be as far away as we once thought.

Just after the State of Play stream, the official Final Fantasy VII Facebook page posted the same trailer along with a message from director Tetsuya Nomura. The message itself may seem pretty simplistic, but one part of it seemed to stand out.

“Most of the plans are already in place in the run up to launch, so please bear with us a little longer until we can release more information next month.”

We already knew that more information would be coming next month at E3 by the note at the end of the trailer saying more to come in June. However, this message specifically states that they already have most of the plans in place for the run up to launch. You wouldn’t think that would be the case if the game was still a couple years or more away as some have speculated with how quiet Square Enix has been about it.

It’s clear the first step of that plan is to give us new information at E3 2019 through the Square Enix stream, but could they really give us a release date or at least a release window? With them having their plans mostly lined up prior to launch, I would say a release window wouldn’t be totally out of the question.

With Kingdom Hearts 3 finally released, Final Fantasy VII Remake is the next major title from Square Enix that has been in development for awhile. If the PlayStation 5 is truly set to release sometime next year, perhaps Final Fantasy VII Remake could be one of those final major releases prior to the release of the new console.

We’ll have to wait and see what information Square Enix gives us during their E3 Square Enix Live stream on Monday, June 10th at 6:00 pm PT.

Nature is something we get to experience everyday, but that does not mean we get to experience every aspect of it on a daily basis. Even for those who live in the country, you likely aren’t experiencing the same things as wild animals with the threats of predators and other disasters that can threaten their lives. AWAY: The Survival Series was just announced during Sony’s latest PlayStation State of Play stream and looks to give us a glimpse at the journey of an animal on the run just trying to survive.

AWAY: The Survival Series puts you in control of a Sugar Glider, which looks like a mix between a badger and a flying squirrel, who is trying to just survive when its home is threatened. Set in the distant future, natural disasters force this Sugar Glider to leave its home and travel across various different environments to try and find a new home.

From the trailer below, we see very vibrant and colorful locations, with one of the coolest looking moments being the Sugar Glider trying to escape when fire is all around it. Making it even better, the developer brought in someone who has done soundtracks for actual nature documentaries in the past, so it should feel very authentic in that regard.

No release window was given for AWAY: The Survival Series, so hopefully we get a release date for the game sooner rather than later.

AWAY: The Survival Series Announce Trailer

PlayStation has taken a cue from Nintendo and started their own equivalent of Nintendo Directs now known as PlayStation State of Play, with the latest just occurring this afternoon. Prior to the stream, Sony promised a new game from PlayStation’s Worldwide Studios, but we certainly were not expecting the reveal of the brand new Predator: Hunting Grounds.

Exclusive to the PlayStation 4, Predator: Hunting Grounds is an asymmetric online multiplayer shooter that is being developed by Friday The 13th: The Game developer Illfonic in a close partnership with 20th Century Fox.

The gameplay in Predator: Hunting Grounds will have a Fireteam made up of a few different players that will be trying to perform paramilitary missions in the game. However, one player in the match will be the Predator, with their goal being to take down the Fireteam.

Following the stream, the official PlayStation blog published an article from Illfonic CEO Charles Brungardt that gave some additional details about the game. He stressed that the game is taking the approach of “gameplay over everything,” which is certainly a good thing to hear. They also are trying to make the world feel as authentic as possible to the world of Predator as well, which they say Fox has been a great help with in development.

Predator: Hunting Grounds will release exclusively for the PS4 sometime in 2020.

Predator: Hunting Grounds Reveal Trailer

One of the more surprising announcements at PSX 2017 was that of a remake for the PS1 cult classic MediEvil, with only a few information drops or trailers since it was first announced. When Sony announced their latest State of Play stream however, they promised a deeper look into the remake and they did not disappoint. Not only did we get to see the game in action, but also learned the release date for the game as well.

MediEvil is an action adventure hack ‘n slash game where you play as Sir Daniel Fortesque, who is the skeleton you see involved with the game. Originally releasing in 1998 in the West, this was definitely a bit of a shock to see being remade at the time, but it’s looking good so far.

During today’s PlayStation State of Play stream, new information on MediEvil was promised and that came in the form of a story trailer to introduce new players to the game. While it is a story trailer, it does have a lot of great gameplay moments to show off as well, which are really looking great so far.

The trailer also delivers by giving us a release date announcement for the game, as Sony revealed that the MediEvil remake will be coming exclusively to PS4 on October 25th. This is a very fitting release date to put the game out right around Halloween considering you are playing as a skeleton.

MediEvil – Story Trailer

The Last of Us released in the summer of 2013 as one of the last major PS3 exclusives ahead of the release of the PS4 later that year. It has been looking like its sequel could have the same sort of role ahead of the release of the PS5, which we received information about earlier today. While we still really do not know when The Last of Us Part II will be coming for sure, a tweet by one of the game’s directors makes it sound like they are nearing the end of at least one part of the development process.

Neil Druckmann served as one of the two directors on the first game and has returned now as the creative director and co-writer on the sequel. When you think of The Last of Us, Druckmann is definitely the industry name you think of. As a result, any information about the game from him is worth discussing.

The latest bit of info from Druckmann comes courtesy of his personal Twitter, where he posted an image of the final page of the script for the game as seen below.

With the image stating “The End,” this basically tells us that they have finished filming the final scene of the game. Considering the game, this likely means the motion capture process with his usage of “shot” rather than recording for the audio. The page itself doesn’t really give us any information either other than the game ends by fading to black.

While this may seem like they have wrapped shooting entirely, Naughty Dog could certainly be shooting scenes out of order in the game along with potential reshoots. However, the fact they have done the final scene makes you think they are pretty far along in the process at this point.

The big question remaining is whether The Last of Us Part II will release sometime in 2019 or be held for the PS4’s likely swan song in 2020. I would guess it’s probably the latter like we saw with the first game, but what a nice surprise it would be to get the game later this year.

The rebooted God of War released nearly a year ago on April 20th to the best praise for the series to date. With the game nearing its one year anniversary, Sony released a free dynamic theme for PS4 owners last week titled Your Journey Awaits. When some looked more closely at the theme though, they noticed a potential ominous tease.

God of War took the series in a very different direction not only gameplay wise, but also with its setting. Instead of being intertwined with Greek mythology, this reboot instead focused on Norse mythology. Kratos was also joined by his son Atreus on this journey and this free dynamic theme features both father and son sitting in a boat.

This theme seemed pretty standard at first, but a Reddit member noticed something very interesting hidden within the theme. If you look closely at the side of the boat, you will notice some runes etched into it that say “Ragnarok is Coming.”

If you do not know what Ragnarok is, or just think it’s a Thor movie, Ragnarok is essentially the apocalypse for Norse mythology for the most part, with multiple gods dying. The fact that it says “Ragnarok is Coming” makes you think something has to be being teased or there would be really be no reason to include it.

The question then goes to whether this could be teasing a sequel or perhaps DLC for the first game or just be absolutely nothing. Director Cory Barlog had teased himself that another surprise was coming beyond the dynamic theme and some free God of War avatars coming out this week, but said it was not going to be a DLC announcement.

It does seem quite early for a whole new game to be announced, but it is a possibility. It could also be DLC, just some what won’t be announced this week as part of the one year anniversary for the game. Teasing Ragnarok is certainly a big deal considering how serious of an event it is for Norse mythology, so we are very intrigued to see what SIE Santa Monica Studio have in store for us.

PSN IDs are your very identity when it comes to PlayStation platforms, most recently with the PlayStation 4. While you have been able to change your name forever on Xbox Live, the same has not been available for PSN though. Sony promised that this much awaited feature was finally coming soon and has been available only for preview members, but now the ability to change your PSN ID is finally available to everybody.

Sony made this announcement through the official PlayStation Blog, where they also laid out all of the fine details about changing your PSN ID. Starting today, you are able to change your own name through your PS4 or through a web browser.

For the PS4, this is found under Settings > Account Management > Account Information > Profile > Online ID. If you are doing it on the web browser, visit this link and sign into your profile. Once inside, select PSN Profile and click edit next to your name to change it.

Similar to Xbox Live, the first name change is completely free, with subsequent changes costing $9.99. However, you can revert back to a prior name at no charge if you do not like the new one. This also means old PSN names can’t be used again by anyone other than you. PS Plus members also get a discount making it only $4.99 for a name change after the first free one.

When changing the name, you will have an option to display your old name by your new one for 30 days so that friends can tell you have changed names as well, which is a helpful feature.

Originally, Sony stated that all games published at least after April 1, 2018 would be supported, but they did specify they found a case where it was not. They did include a link of tested games, so it’s a good idea to check that before changing if you are still playing any of that list a lot still. Sony specifically mentioned the following could be issues with games that don’t support the change.

• Your previous Online ID may remain visible to you and other players in some areas.
• You may lose progress within games, including game saved data, leaderboard data, and progress towards Trophies.
• Parts of your game and applications may not function properly both online and offline.
• You may lose access to content (including paid-for content) that you may have acquired for your games including content like add-ons and virtual currency.

This has definitely been the most requested feature for PSN dating back to the PS3 days, so it’s great that it is finally here. Just make sure to read more in depth about it before making the change, since there are some potential issues still.

Sony held their first PlayStation State of Play stream last night, which serves as their equivalent of a Nintendo Direct or Inside Xbox. This presentation gave us some neat reveals, one of the most surprising of which was a new exclusive game for PSVR starring one of the most popular superheroes around these days with the Marvel’s Iron Man VR.

Within the below trailer that was published to the official PlayStation YouTube page after the event, you can watch the minute and a half they have given us of the game so far. From what we are shown in the trailer, Tony Stark starts in his private jet with us viewing this in first person. While speaking with his AI Friday, the villainous Ghost, who was the villain in the recent Ant-Man & The Wasp movie, takes over the feed for a second and ends up trying to crash his plane and sends Tony flying out of it.

This is where he calls on his Iron Man suit and we see some of the action starting with Iron Man’s HUD itself. This should be a treat to experience just because it will make us feel like we’re actually in the suit. The trailer then shows some of the combat with the usage of the PlayStation Move controllers, with each one controllers one of the hands of Iron Man. It is stated that it is required that you have two Move controllers to play at all.

No specific release date was given other than sometime in 2019, so perhaps we will get more details about a release window in an upcoming PlayStation State of Play presentation.

Marvel’s Iron Man VR – Announce Trailer PSVR

With Ni No Kuni II due out shortly for the PlayStation 4, we’re getting more details about the upcoming RPG.  PlayStation and Bandai Namco have sat down for a lengthy gameplay session that explains some of the battle system features for the game, taking players to the gorgeous location of Golden Paw and the Calmlands.

The major differences that players of the original game will see is that the battles are no longer a hybrid turn-based style.  In Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom the game features more real time elements in the combat.  However, you can still pause the game if you are in mid-battle and need to use items.  Combat will be split between dungeons and overworld with some minor differences in each.  Once you start combat in the dungeons of Ni No Kuni 2 you will be locked into a fight with a wall limiter.  You’ll only be able to go so far away from an enemy in a dungeon but the enemies that can enter the fight are limited.

Higgledies

Combat in Ni No Kuni 2 will also feature Higgledies, which can be caught and brought into battle with you.  They represent different types of elements like Fire, Light, Darkness, and Water.  They give you different attacks and benefits in combat with two passive benefits and an active power which can be used when in the circle of influence.  To some extent they replace familiars from the first game.  New Higgledies will be found at different shrines located throughout the game.   Each Higgledie can be accessed through the party menu, and each have a different cost associated with them that the player must manage. The real time battle system allows players to switch between different active characters on the fly.  If a character is not active they cannot be brought into battle once a battle begins, but can be swapped in ahead of time.

Tactics Tweaker

The monsters of Ni No Kuni 2 all have different types.  In the game’s Tactics Tweaker menu players can access a set of sliders that allow them tweak the different spoils of victory and the ability to be stronger against certain monsters.  Giving yourself a benefit against certain Monster types will also give you a weakness to the counter-type.  This can be useful for players as they adventure into different areas of the game.  These sliders are adjusted by using Battle Points and cannot be freely changed unless the players have the number of points.

Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom looks to be a significant upgrade from the first game.  With visual upgrades that the PS4 provides, as well as upgrades to the numerous battle systems of the game, fans of the first one are sure to be pleased.  The game will also feature 60FPS gameplay on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro, with the latter having a 4K mode as well.

Ni No Kuni 2 is releasing on March 23rd.

Ni No Kuni 2 Gameplay Walkthrough

Fans of Kingdom Hearts got a little something to be excited about during the D23 Expo.  A new trailer for Kingdom Hearts III has been released that features a load of new gameplay and announces the addition of Monsters, Inc.

This new trailer showcases Goofy, Donald, and Sora on an adventure in the world of Monsters, Inc.  Those looking closely will find new monster forms for the characters, as well as new Keyblade attacks that have yet to be revealed.  The official YouTube channel also confirms that there will be many returning friends and foes from previous games.

The trailer also seemingly confirms that the game will come out in 2018 for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.  The release date for Kingdom Hearts III has not yet been set, but multiple sources are confirming that E3 2018 will be the spot that Square Enix finally gives this long-awaited title a concrete date.

Kingdom Hearts III has been a long time coming.  Square Enix has been kicking around ideas for Kingdom Hearts III as far back as 2006.  They then confirmed the game’s existence at E3 2013, before going silent for quite some time only to return and reveal a 2018 release.

With this latest trailer having a bunch of gameplay to parse through, it’s looking very likely that Kingdom Hearts fans will finally get Kingdom Hearts III at the tail-end of this year.

Kingdom Hearts III D23 Trailer

Square Enix hosted a livestream earlier today where it shared more information about the Season Pass for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, now leaving fans with a bit of guessing game now that it’s all over.

As indicated before, the Season Pass will include six additional playable characters, as well as two costume color variations and two additional weapons for each. But while we know what they will be coming with, we still don’t know who any of them are. Fortunately, Square Enix did give a few hints on who to expect.

Here are the clues:

— Male, New (from newer half of numbered Final Fantasy titles)
— Male, New (from older half of numbered Final Fantasy titles)
— Female, New (from newer half of numbered Final Fantasy titles)
— Male, New (from newer half of numbered Final Fantasy titles)
— Female, Returning (from newer half of numbered Final Fantasy titles)
— Male, New (from newer half of numbered Final Fantasy titles)

It’s certainly nice that SE decided to reveal that most of these characters are new rather than returning, which makes much of the guesswork a tad easier. Furthermore, thanks to the distinction being made between “newer half” vs “older half,” it seems clear that most of these characters will be from Final Fantasy 7 and onward. Lastly, it would be safe to assume that every entry will be represented by at least one protagonist and one villain.

Even with all those facts in mind, however, it’s still difficult to determine who exactly will be added in the Season Pass since there’s just so many of them.

So, who could these new characters be? First, it would be safe to assume that the returning female character is either Tifa or Yuna. The only other female character who has yet to make a return is Prishe (FFXI) and she is nowhere as popular or significant as the other two. As for the new female character? It seems unlikely that any other female from FFVII or FFX would get in over Tifa or Yuna, so someone from FFVIII, FFIX or XV is the safest bet. Among them, Aranea Highwind (FFXV) seems the most likely, as not only is she new, but she could serve as a replacement for Kain who evidently isn’t in.

The male characters are much harder to figure out, but Caius (FFXIII) would be a safe bet, as Lightning is the only character who has appeared multiple times in Dissidia without having a villain to go up against. Following that same logic, seeing Ardyn (FFXV) or Ravus (FFXV) to go up against Noctis wouldn’t be an unusual outcome. If both instances turn out to be true, the only character who would be left unaccounted for would be Vaan. In Dissidia 012, Gabranth served as his counterpart, but the hints have made it clear that all of the male characters would be new. In that case, the only character who could be added would be Vayne (unless they wanted to add Balthier as another protagonist).

With that in mind, here is how that list now looks like:

— Vayne/Balthier
— ??? (new male from older half of numbered Final Fantasy titles)
— Aranea Highwind
— Ardyn/Ravus
— Tifa/Yuna
— Caius

Most of these picks seem plausible, but as indicated before, there’s just so many characters that it could turn out to be just about anyone (even Zack Fair (FFVII) was mentioned at one point). As such, we’ll have to wait until Square Enix reveals more information about the Season Pass to know for sure.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is is due out for the PlayStation 4 on Jan. 30 in North America and Europe, while those in Japan will be getting in on the action early on Jan. 11.

Sony told fans that they should tune in this week for their Paris Games Week presentation.  Explaining last week that “E3 was only half the story,” the full blown press conference featured a number of high profile announcements for games coming to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR that we hadn’t heard about until now.

Here are the top announcements and reveals from Sony’s PlayStation Paris Games Week Press Conference, including new footage for a number of high profile PlayStation exclusives and announcements for console exclusive third party content.

The Last of Us 2 New Trailer

We already knew that Naughty Dog was hard at work on The Last of Us Part II, but the Paris Games Week Showcase gave us a closer look at the game with a brand new trailer.  Exactly what you would expect from The Last of Us, the trailer featured an ultra-violent scene from the game.

There was still no announcement regarding the release date for The Last of Us Part II, but our bets are on a late-2018/early-2019 release for this highly anticipated sequel.

It was recently rumored that The Last of Us Part II would take place in Seattle, WA.  The trailer doesn’t confirm this, but does lend some credibility to the rumor.

Spelunky 2 is a thing

During the pre-show for the conference, Sony’s PR team announced Spelunky 2 would be coming to PS4 .   The trailer for the sequel to the highly popular and critically acclaimed title was announced as “coming to PS4,”  but it’s unclear just where else the game would release.

Derek Yu, the creator of Spelunky had this to say about the game:  “With Spelunky 2, we get a chance to examine in depth what makes Spelunky unique and draw it out even more. At the same time, we need to move forward and take some risks with new ideas, keeping the series fresh for longtime fans and for ourselves.”

No release date was given for the game, but Yu says he just wanted to let people know that it exists.

Sucker Punch’s New Game Announced

We’ve been waiting a long time to hear what Sucker Punch has been working on and Ghost of Tsushima has been revealed as the next open world adventure from the developers of Infamous.  Ghost of Tsushima looks like a step in a completely new direction in terms of setting, but as an open world title it will certainly be in a genre that Sucker Punch is familiar with.

According to Sucker Punch the game takes place in Feudal Japan and will be a “sprawling samurai open world game.”  In Ghost of Tsushima you play as “a battered Samurai who is fighting against overwhelming odds.”

The release date for Ghost of Tsushima was not revealed at Paris Games Week.

Play Far Cry 5 with friends

A cooperative mode was shown for Far Cry 5 during the show.  “Friends for Hire” is a mode that allows players to team up with friends to liberate Hope County.  Ubisoft says that immediately following the game’s tutorial, players will be able to play Far Cry 5 via online co-op.

Far Cry 5 is set to release on February 27th, 2018.

The Curse of Osiris is Destiny 2’s first expansion

During the portion of the show that Sony dedicates to third party exclusive content, Sony and Activision revealed the first expansion for Destiny 2.  The Curse of Osiris release date is set for December 5th on PlayStation 4.

The Curse of Osiris takes place after the conclusion of the Destiny 2 campaign and players will head to Mercury to find a Guardian named Osiris.  Revealed as “the most powerful Warlock that ever lived,” the expansion appears to be centered around the fight against the Vex.

The first Destiny 2 expansion features a new cinematic story, a new destination on Mercury, a new social space called the Lighthouse, as well as new missions, strikes, free roam activities, and world quests to complete.

The Curse of Osiris WILL feature a new Raid for Destiny 2 as well.

Play as Aloy in Monster Hunter World

Monster Hunter World got a new trailer at Paris Games Week and an announcement that there would be PlayStation exclusive content for the game.  Monster Hunter World will feature a crossover between Horizon Zero Dawn and the Monster Hunter series.

This PlayStation exclusive content will allow players to play as Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn in the game.

Monster Hunter World release date is set for January 26th, 2017.

The Resistance is Call of Duty WW2’s first DLC

Sony struck a deal with Activision to bring Call of Duty downloadable content to the console before PC and Xbox, so the Paris Games Week showcase featured an obligatory trailer for the upcoming shooter.  Giving Call of Duty fans a first look at the Carentan map, which is a remake of an old classic.  Carentan is available as a pre-order bonus for Call of Duty WW2 which is due out on November 3rd.

The trailer also revealed the release date for the first downloadable content for the game.  “The Resistance” looks to feature three new multiplayer maps, a zombies map, and a new map for the game’s War Mode.  Call of Duty WW2 “The Resistance” DLC is slated to arrive on January 30th.

Spider-Man for PS4 continues to impress

Marvel’s Spider-Man was revealed at E3 2017 and by most accounts it was one of the most promising PlayStation 4 exclusives that we saw.  On the heels of that reveal, Paris Games Week showcased more gameplay for the game, giving fans a little more insight regarding the story elements of this game.

The trailer also confirmed a 2018 release date for the game.

Quantic Dream’s New Game kind of looks like their old ones

Quantic Dream’s Detroit: Become Human got a new trailer at Paris Games Week.  In it, we got a chance to see more of what the developers of Heavy Rain have been working on.  Apparently players will play as a robot in the game that can make choices.

The scenes from the trailer depict a game that has branching paths and has this A.I. character dealing with topics like domestic abuse, offering the player decisions to make for an alternate outcome to different situations.

The trailer also tagged the game for a 2018 release date.

Kratos and son continue adventure in God of War

2018 looks to be a big year for PlayStation 4 exclusives and one of the biggest ones will be the new God of War.  Kratos gets a second chance at being a father in this new world, and the latest footage of the game continues to impress.

It’s been years since we’ve seen a God of War release for PlayStation, but this new trailer isn’t making the wait any easier.  The end of it does show that the game will be releasing in “Early 2018.”  An exact release date for the new God of War still has not been revealed.

2018 looks like a big year for PS4 Exclusives

With only one big announcement, Sony’s PlayStation Paris Games Week presentation wasn’t quite as huge as they’d promised.  It did, however, point to a year that’s going to be chocked-full of PlayStation 4 exclusives with God of War, Detroit: Become Human, and Spider-Man all slated to arrive next year with more on the horizon.  The only two games that didn’t have release windows attached to them were The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima.

Regardless, Paris Games Week gave PlayStation 4 owners plenty to look forward to.

A little game called Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds has really shaken things up on the PC gaming front. People love this game. However, it is currently a PC exclusive. It is reportedly in the works for Xbox One, but a firm release date has yet to be announced. That’s okay though. Because Fortnite Battle Royale is here. And it’s completely free.

We all know Fortnite Battle Royale is a “fast follow” game. It’s been accused of completely ripping off PUBG. It’s fine. It’s still a free game that’s available on Xbox One and PS4 right now.

I’ve had an absolute blast with Fortnite Battle Royale over the past couple of weeks. I can’t believe this game is free to play. I’ve had several 6+ hour binges with this game and it still hasn’t worn thin, which is somewhat surprising considering the simplicity of the concept. This is a “last man standing” game. That’s it. You have the option to play in a squad of four, duo or solo. It’s not a bad solo game, but the best version of this game exists when you are playing with three buddies.

Every match is the same thing. You are assigned a character (but you cannot currently choose who you want to be), you jump out of a floating bus, land on the ground, pick up as much loot as possible and then try not to die. A deadly storm causes the playing field to gradually shrink, which brings enemies closer together and ramps up the action. And weapons are not that easy to come by. For real, if you don’t scoop up a couple of quality firearms quickly after landing, you’re pretty much screwed.

What really intrigues me about this game though is the pickaxe. It can be used to collect resources and build forts. You can also use said pickaxe to bash through any wall on the map. A perfect addition for anyone who has wanted to reenact a certain scene from The Shining. Building forts is really my favorite aspect of this game though. My team had two builders and two people looking out for enemies. We built a magnificent fort, a fort we thought we could last 1,000 winters in, a fort that we thought for sure would help us be the last team standing. Then, out of nowhere, we hear the sound of multiple rockets being launched in our direction. BOOM. Half of our fort had been obliterated and we were left exposed to heavy gunfire. We had to go face the enemy head on. We all died.

That’s the other thing. You aren’t really required to go for kills in this game. In fact, you can be the last man standing without ever killing anyone. I really enjoyed this aspect of the game because it allows people to play however they see fit. Sure, most people are going to go for kills. But many people are also opting for the “hide the whole damn time” strategy. And it works! Seriously, you can hide in a bush and become completely invisible to enemies who are directly in front of you. If you are good at stealthily navigating the map, you never have to fire a single shot. It’s exhilarating as hell and extremely satisfying to be the last man standing.

If you’re looking for something new to play on the Xbox One or PS4, I really can’t recommend Fortnite Battle Royale enough. It’s fast, fun and never gets old.

PlayStation Blog has just announced the free games that will be available for PlayStation Plus subscribers in North America and Europe for the month of October 2017. Here they are:

North America

• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain | PS4
• Amnesia: Collection | PS4
• Monster Jam Battlegrounds | PS3
• Hustle Kings | PS3
• Hue | PS Vita (Cross Buy with PS4)
• Sky Force Anniversary | PS Vita (Cross Buy with PS4 & PS3)

Europe

• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain | PS4
• Amnesia: Collection | PS4
• RIGS: Mechanised Combat League | PSVR
• That’s You | PlayLink
• Monster Jam Battlegrounds | PS3
• Hustle Kings | PS3
• Hue | PS Vita (Cross Buy with PS4)
• Sky Force Anniversary | PS Vita (Cross Buy with PS4 & PS3)

This week’s lineup is highlighted by Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Here’s what William Schwartz had to say about it in his review:

“Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain exceeds even the wildest expectations of what is possible for a sandbox stealth title. While it deviates slightly from what we’ve come to understand a Metal Gear title to be, The Phantom Pain’s new additions make up for it in spades to sit atop the heap as the best Metal Gear game in the series.”

The next game, or set of games, that might catch your eye is the Amnesia: Collection, which arrived on PlayStation 4 nearly a year ago. Here’s the announcement trailer:

The Vita game, Hue, was reviewed positively by Dean James who said:

“Making a game that stands out from the rest of the crowd can be rather difficult, and while Hue definitely draws inspiration from other games, the overall experience is well worth the time. The adventure starts off at a slower pace as the colors are gradually introduced, but as the gameplay picks up the deeper you get into the game with well designed puzzles, all accompanied by a fantastic instrumental score, Hue really shines bright as an example of a puzzle platformer done right.”

There are three promotions currently available on the PlayStation Network store this week, which are highlighted by two themed sales featuring The Last of Us Remastered and the Call of Duty franchise. While there are several add-ons also on sale, we’ll only be highlighting the games. Here are the deals:

TLOU Remastered Outbreak Day Sale

Game | Platform | Original Price | Sale Price

The Last of Us Remastered | PS4 | $19.99 | $9.99

The Last of Us: Left Behind Stand Alone | PS4 | $9.99 | $4.99

Call of Duty Sale

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Gold Edition | PS4 | $59.99 | $19.79

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Gold Edition | PS3 | $49.99 | $16.49

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Digital Pro Edition | PS4 | $99.99 | $29.99

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Digital Pro Edition | PS3 | $89.99 | $26.99

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered | PS4 | $39.99 | $31.99

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare | PS4 | $59.99 | $35.99

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Legacy Edition | PS4 | $79.99 | $51.99

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare – Digital Deluxe | PS4 | $99.99 | $69.99

Call of Duty: Ghost Gold Edition | PS4 | $59.99 | $19.79

Call of Duty: Ghost Gold Edition | PS3 | $44.99 | $14.84

Call of Duty: Ghost Digital Hardened Edition| PS4 | $99.99 | $29.99

Call of Duty: Ghost Digital Hardened Edition| PS3 | $79.99 | $23.99

Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Zombie Chronicles Deluxe | PS4 | $99.99 | $79.99

Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Zombie Chronicles Edition | PS4 | $59.99 | $49.79

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Bundle | PS3 | $19.99 | $12.99

Call of Duty: Black Ops with First Strike | PS3 | $39.99 | $19.59

Call of Duty: Black Ops Ultimate Edition | PS3 | $74.99 | $29.24

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with Stimulus Package | PS3 | $19.99 | $9.79

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Bundle | PS3 | $39.99 | $14.79

Call of Duty: Black Ops & Black Ops II Bundle | PS3 | $79.99 | $29.59

Call of Duty: Black Ops II With Revolution Map Pack | PS3 | $49.99 | $19.49

Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Season Pass Game Bundle | PS3 | $79.99 | $29.59

Call of Duty: Black Ops III | PS3 | $49.99 | $14.49

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 With DLC Collection 1 | PS3 | $29.99 | $14.69

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Ultimate Edition| PS3 | $69.99 | $29.39

Call of Duty Classic | PS3 | $19.99 | $9.79

Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified | Vita | $39.99 | $9.59

PlayStation Plus Specials

Titan Fall 2 Ultimate Edition | PS4 | $39.99 | $27.99

Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age | PS4 | $49.99 | $34.99

Bioshock: The Collection | PS4 | $59.99 | $29.99

Children of the Zodiarcs | PS4 | $17.99 | $13.49

Constructor | PS4 | $39.99 | $27.99

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls | PS4 | $29.99 | $20.99

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls | Vita | $29.99 | $20.99

Full Throttle Remastered | PS4 | $14.99 | $10.49

Full Throttle Remastered | Vita | $14.99 | $10.49

Lili: Child of Geos | PS4 | $14.99 | $8.99

Micro Machines World Series | PS4 | $29.99 | $20.99

MotoGP 17 | PS4 | $49.99 | $39.99

NeuroVoider | PS4 | $13.99 | $9.79

Persona 5 | PS4 | $59.99 | $41.99

Persona 5 | PS3 | $49.99 | $34.99

Revenant Saga | PS4 | $14.99 | $10.49

Revenant Saga | PS3 | $14.99 | $10.49

Revenant Saga | Vita | $14.99 | $10.49

Serial Cleaner | PS4 | $14.99 | $7.49

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun | PS4 | $49.99 | $37.49

Sina Mora EX | PS4 | $19.99 | $15.99

SpeedRunners Deluxe Bundle | PS4 | $16.99 | $11.89

Sublevel Zero – Redux | PS4 | $19.99 | $9.99

Subterrian | PS4 | $16.99 | $8.49

Super Cloudbuilt | PS4 | $19.99 | $11.99

Syberia 3 | PS4 | $49.99 | $24.99

The King of Fighters XIV | PS4 | $39.99 | $19.99

The Surge | PS4 | $59.99 | $35.99

Torment: Tides of Numenera | PS4 | $49.99 | $24.99

Even through all its ups and downs, Compile Heart remains one of my favorite developers, having been involved in titles such as Hyperdimension Neptunia, Record of Agarest War and Fairy Fencer F. Therefore, when the company announced last year that it would release a dungeon crawler RPG — one of my favorite genres — called Mary Skelter: Nightmares (Kamigokuto: Mary Skelter in Japan), my interest was immediately piqued and I waited with bated breath for the announcement of an English release. At long last, that time is nearly upon us and I’m here to share some of my experience with the game so far before the full review next week.

As of writing this, I’m in the middle of Chapter 4 on Hard Mode and have spent a little under 34 hours to get there (admittedly, I have spent a fair amount of time exploring old dungeons with new characters to unlock new routes) and have had a great deal of fun along the way. To be clear, Mary Skelter: Nightmares isn’t the first DRPG that Compile Heart has developed. Titles such as MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death and Moe Chronicle have been around for awhile now; and using such titles as a base, it has become increasingly clear that CH was committed to making this the best DRPG it has made to date and potentially redefining the genre as a whole.

All the hallmarks of a Compile Heart game is present in Mary Skelter: Nightmares: interesting setting, fantastic art, a diverse cast, unique mechanics and, of course, fanservice — it’s all there.

The story is adequate so far, telling you exactly what you need to know for the most part: what is going on, what you’re doing and why. In this case, the game tells the tale of two childhood friends, Jack and Alice, who, along with their friends, work to find a way to escape Jail — a living prison which suddenly appeared after a city collapsed — and the Marchen, the various monsters residing within that has turned the majority of people in the area into prisoners. I’m not holding out too much hope for the story to remain so simple, though. Ignoring the fact that there a prequel novel (which is steadily unlocked as you progress through the game) that is needed to fully grasp the backstory, Compile Heart is known for being overly ambitious with its stories as they go along — often causing them to fall apart or leave some questions unanswered by the end. Unfortunately, there are already some signs that Mary Skelter: Nightmares will go in this direction, as there’s some mysterious stuff going on and the questions keep mounting with no answers in sight.

Fortunately, while the story could potentially go downhill, the characters — though somewhat “trope-y” — are interesting enough to keep everything entertaining. All of the main characters are inspired by a character from a famous fairy tale/novel/etc. and various aspects of each are dictated by their base material. For example, Cinderella has a pair of earrings in the shape of glass slippers and you spend the majority of one dungeon searching for one of them after she misplaces it. What’s more, she spends a fair amount of her spare time cleaning or worrying about fashion (dresses in particular) and several scenes emphasize this. Seeing how each character employs the logic or reasoning utilized by the character they’re based on to tackle situations they come across has been an unexpected treat.

And while on the subject of treats, the art and visuals has been one as well — though this is something I’ve come to expect from CH over the years. Not only does each character possess a unique look, featuring aspects of the story they’re based off of, the game also manages to subvert what players would expect out of a game that takes place in a giant prison. One would assume that the game would be dreary and have subdued, darker colors to match, but Mary Skelter: Nightmares manages to make each dungeon colorful while still maintaining a creepy feeling.  For example, even with all the bright neon lights littering the Downtown dungeon area, it’s still hard not to get creeped out by the empty, dark alleyways and mysteriously moving pothole covers on the ground.

That said, no amount of creepiness that any dungeon exudes can match the feeling of dread that comes from encountering a Nightmare — giant creatures that “roam” around a dungeon. I had gone in expecting Nightmares to be akin to Etrian Odyssey’s FOEs, but I quickly found that comparison to be somewhat disingenuous. Though both are large enemies that are visible on the field, Nightmares are all inherently hostile to you, consistently hunt you and encountering them changes the pace of the game significantly. Once you’re spotted, you enter a chase sequence which is not only carried out in real-time, but the map is turned off (unless you’re playing on Easy Mode) and you can’t open the pause menu. At that point, your only options are to escape or fight the Nightmare in a bid to stun it and make your escape easier. Unfortunately, fighting a Nightmare is easier said than done. Battles occur in real-time, and taking too long to select an option will allow it to skip your own teammates’ turns and take more actions than what is normally possible. There was never a dull moment when exploring a dungeon because the possibility of an encounter with a Nightmare always kept me honest.

Unfortunately, encountering a Nightmare is the most fun that will be had when it comes to combat. As is always the case with games in this genre, battles come down to picking a party, devising a strategy that is most effective and then executing said strategy ad nauseum. That isn’t to say the combat is inherently boring — especially with all the facets included (something that will be discussed in detail in the full review) — but it can be repetitive at times. At the very least, being able to tinker with various class combinations helps to keep combat interesting.

Lastly, there’s fan service. As this is a Compile Heart game, there are obviously scenes featuring the heroines in revealing outfits and/or in compromising positions. Compared to other titles, however, Mary Skelter: Nightmares has far less of them. I’ve only seen two scenes that qualify as fan service and the minigame (where most of the fan service is located) is entirely optional and can actually be skipped after completing it the first time.

So far, I’ve enjoyed Mary Skelter: Nightmares considerably. Even with its faults (which I’ll go into greater detail in the full review), the game still has me coming back for more. I’m looking forward to seeing what else the game throws my way and whether my perceptions of the game stay the same by the time I complete the game and write the full review.

With Star Wars Battlefront II coming in a few months, EA DICE seems to be drumming up some hype for the upcoming title by reducing the prices of its predecessor, Star Wars Battlefront, on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One — especially if you are a member of either platform’s paid subscription service.

Before going any further, do note that these prices appear to only be applicable in Europe so far. As for North America, prices on the Xbox Marketplace has been similarly adjusted, but the PlayStation Store hasn’t been updated yet.

Moving on to the actual prices, the Season Pass — which grants access to four expansion packs: Death Star, Outer Rim, Bespin and Rogue One: Scarif, as well as 20 new pieces of galactic tech, 16 new multiplayer maps, an exclusive “shoot first” emote, eight heroes and four new game modes — is now for being offered for free on both the Xbox Marketplace and PlayStation Store, rather than the initial $19.99 asking price.

Both of these deals are available to users regardless of whether they are a Xbox Live Gold or PS Plus subscriber or not, though you will still need said subscriptions to access the game’s online features.

Meanwhile, the Ultimate Edition — which includes everything and the kitchen sink — has seen a similar price cut, with the game going from its original price of $29.99 to a meager $4.50. Unfortunately, Sony doesn’t seem to be offering a similar deal on the PlayStation 4 in Europe (or perhaps is late in doing so), so its unlikely players in North America will be seeing a similar deal.

Compared to the Season Pass offerings, however, you will need an Xbox Live Gold membership to be eligible for this deal.

It’s clear at this point that if you have any intention on getting into the Star Wars Battlefront craze, then this is the perfect time to do so — especially with Star Wars Battlefront II on the horizon. Owners of the base game who were unwilling to shell out cash for the season pass now have free access to it, while those on the Xbox One who opted to skip the game entirely can get it for next to nothing.

There has been no mention of an end date for this sale or if there are any plans to alter it, so hurry up and get in on the deal now before it gets altered any further.

Destiny 2 finally came to consoles on Tuesday and it’s already proving to be a clear improvement over the previous installment. However, with everything that Bungie did right with the game, there is one thing that went horribly wrong: shaders.

To put it plainly, the present state of shaders in Destiny 2 is completely unacceptable for a whole number of reasons.

So here’s the deal: In Destiny, players could obtain shaders — which were used to apply different colors to your character — through various means, whether it be through random drops, purchases or as a reward for doing something particularly noteworthy. What made them fun, however, is that they had infinite uses, so you could switch between them at your heart’s content once you found some that you liked.

This, however, is not the case in Destiny 2. Now, shaders are consumables that disappear on use.

What makes this particularly troubling is that they are also more difficult to obtain and it’s no longer a matter of simply buying them from a vendor. Now, shaders can be found randomly in new items called Bright Engrams and while its fully possible to obtain a large stock of them normal methods, the easiest way is to simply buy them using real-world money. Through the use of silver, players can go to the Eververse Trading Company and trade some of it to buy a Bright Engram which may or may not have a shader inside.

The mere thought of having to use real-world money to bolster your stock of shaders is bad enough, but what makes it far worse is that silver isn’t necessarily cheap and the costs add up. A quick glance at the PlayStation Store reveals that there are four price points for silver:

• 500 Silver for $4.99
• 1000 (+100) Silver for $9.99
• 2000 (+300) Silver for $19.99
• 5000 (+800) Silver for $49.99

Now, consider that:

• 1 Bright Engram costs 200 Silver
• 3 Bright Engrams costs 500 silver
• 5 Bright Engrams costs 800 silver

Clearly, you’re meant to buy in bulk if you want the highest chances at getting a shader. However, considering that the highest price point is $49.99 — a mere $10 less than the actual game — why not just shell out the extra cash and buy a copy for your friend? At least in that instance, you can suffer looking horrible together.

Unfortunately, it only gets worse from here. For whatever reason, Bungie decided to make shaders work on only one piece of armor at a time, which means players would have needed to get four copies of the same shader if they wanted their entire outfit to match. What’s interesting in this situation, however, is that Bungie somehow seemed to realize that this would be a problem, but chose to be rather heavy-handed in addressing it: offer shaders in stacks of three. This means that three of your four pieces of armor will be altered by the shader, but you’ll still need to find another shader of the same color scheme to complete the set.

What happens if you want to use a different color scheme? Well, better hope you have two more stacks of that same shader in case you ever decide to switch back.

What happens if you get a new set of gear? You know the drill.

The worst part about all this is that there was no mention of this change whatsoever in the weeks leading up to Destiny 2’s launch. With all the media coverage and Bungie’s own advertisements and releases, one would think that such change would be disclosed pretty early on. As such, the change left players absolutely blindsided by the change, prompting many of them to head to Reddit in revolt.

One thread highlighting this very issue has 37.5k upvotes as of writing this. In it, redditor WeilageM calls on the community to not spend a penny on Destiny 2 microtransactions until Bungie makes shaders unlimited use again.

“Getting a stockpile of shaders doesn’t beat just having a collection you can use at will, even if the shader drops were so frequent that you never ran out of the ones you want,” WeilageM writes. “At that point, why even have them be consumable? Because you’re supposed to run out, get impatient, and just start dumping money into Eververse so you CAN have a stockpile.”

Of course, there are other microtransaction issues that Destiny 2 suffers from, such as gameplay-affecting mods and the presence of Bright Dust. However, shaders are the biggest offender.

As stated previously, it is fully possible to get a full stock of shaders through f2p means (my editor states having more than what he knows to do with after 20-30 hours of playing), so perhaps this dilemma takes on a different meaning depending on the beholder — they’re cosmetic items after all. However, when all is said and done, it’s clear that Bungie either thought that having frequent consumable drops was an improvement over rarer permanent rewards or purposely retooled shaders to fit into its microtransaction system in order to turn a profit.

In either case, its clear that Destiny fans are not pleased with the change and are starting to call Bungie out on it. Now, all that remains to be seen is whether Bungie will listen.

God of War is coming out next year and while we wait for new information about Kratos’ latest journey, the official PlayStation Twitter account has posted some concept artwork from the upcoming title.

Check out the pictures below:

If the gameplay videos weren’t enough, this batch of God of War concept artwork further illustrates just how beautiful and well-detailed the game will be.

To recap, God of War will feature Kratos in a brand-new setting as he goes on a journey with his son, Atreus. As fans have come to expect from the series since its PS2 and PS3 days, the game will include large-scale, such as one against a giant sea serpent, and fast-paced combat. While on the subject of the game’s combat, it will still place Kratos in the driver’s seat — albeit with a slightly different third person view — but Atreus will also help his father out in combat by utilizing arrows and double team attacks. Of course, Atreus isn’t just useful in combat, he’ll be integral in exploration as well. Kratos will come across various runes and other texts throughout his journey, and Atreus will be the only one capable of translating them.

Lastly, though gameplay videos have suggested the game will be more expansive than previous entries, Sony has already stated that the game will offer more opportunity for exploration (perhaps to find more runes and texts for further world-building), but won’t be entirely open-world.

God of War doesn’t have a definitive release date, but Sony has already stated it will be coming in the first half of 2018.

September is almost here and that means its time for Sony to update its lineup for free games available for PlayStation Plus subscribers. That time has arrived and Sony has announced the lineup for North America and Europe.

Overall, the offerings for September are top-notch, with both both regions getting Infamous: Second Son and RIGS: Mechanized Combat League. Unfortunately, the similarities end there, as Europe will be getting Child of Light, while North America will only receive Strike Vector Ex in return.

Here’s the complete PlayStation Plus September lineup:

PlayStation 4

• North America
  • Hue (Curve Digital)
  • inFAMOUS: Second Son (SIE)
  • Sky Force Anniversary (iDreams)
  • Strike Vector Ex (Ragequit Corporation)
• Europe
  • Child of Light (Ubisoft)
  • Hatoful Boyfriend (Devolver Digital)
  • inFAMOUS: Second Son (SIE)
  • We Are Doomed (Vertex Pop)
• Bonus Game through October 23: That’s You (SIE)
• Bonus Game through November 7: RIGS: Mechanized Combat League (SIE)

PlayStation 3

• North America
  • Hustle Kings (SIE)
  • Monster Jam Battlegrounds (GameMill Entertainment)
  • Sky Force Anniversary (iDreams)
• Europe
  • Handball 16 (Bigben Interactive)
  • Truck Racer (Bigben Interactive)

PS Vita

• North America
  • Hue (Curve Digital)
  • Sky Force Anniversary (iDreams)
• Europe
  • Hatoful Boyfriend (Devolver Digital)
  • We Are Doomed (Vertex Pop)

In addition to the usual deals, players in the North America will be able to play Dead by Daylight Sept. 15-18 for free. Afterwards, they can take 30% off the game until Sept. 22 should they decide to purchase it.

Sony’s PlayStation Plus free game offerings are typically hit-or-miss and this one is definitely the former. Though, of course, you’ll have to wait for September to actually download any of them.

Injustice 2 is chugging along, pushing out characters here and there to help the game remain fresh for fans. It wasn’t too long ago that Starfire was added to the roster, but it looks like Warner Bros. and NetherRealm Studios already has the next set of characters lined up, announcing that Fighter Pack 2 will herald the inclusion of Hellboy, Black Manta and Raiden to the game’s roster.

Fighter Pack 2 is a little strange, especially when compared to the previous one. Injustice 2’s first Fighter Pack introduced two DC characters, Red Hood and Starfire, and one Mortal Kombat, Sub Zero. In contrast, this DLC pack only has one character that is actually from DC — Black Manta. The other two, Raiden and Hellboy, are from Mortal Kombat and Dark Horse Comics, respectively.

Of course, its not like NetherRealm Studios hasn’t made it clear in the past that guest characters are more than welcome to join its roster. Characters such as Jason Vorhees, Predator, Leatherface and even God of War’s Kratos has been included in other NetherRealm-developed titles at one point or another.

All three characters are worthy additions to the roster, just that its likely some will take pause over the fact that there is only one DC character being added this time around.

At any rate, Fighter Pack 2 will be available for purchase on September 12, with the first character being available for early access on the same day. Furthermore, players who have purchased the Injustice 2 Ultimate Edition, Injustice 2 Ultimate Pack or the Injustice 2 Fighter Pack 2 will have early access to each of the three new fighters as a bundle before they’re available individually.

Injustice 2 is available now on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Check out Injustice 2 Fighter Pack 2 trailer below:

Earlier today, Capcom released a new trailer for Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite, revealing the final characters that will be available on launch and the final Infinity Stone: Soul Stone. The characters didn’t leave much to the imagination, but the Soul Stone was anything but, as the trailer didn’t fully explain what the heck was actually going on when the stone’s various abilities were used.

Fortunately, popular FGC personality Maximilian has had plenty of opportunity to learn the nuances of the Soul Stone ahead of its official reveal and was kind enough to release a video breaking down everything that the stone is capable of based on his time with the Gamescom build of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.

In an earlier article, I questioned various functions about its effects, such as how much health players would be able to drain, how much life resurrected teammates would come back with, as well as how long they’d remain alive after their resurrection. Many of these questions were answered in the video, but it turns out there is far more to the stone than what the trailer let on. Quite honestly, I thought the stone was insane at first glance, but its actually even crazier than I imagined.

First off, the Infinity Surge functions like a whip that can be used to drain both the yellow and red health of the opponents health and recover some of your own. The amount of health gained isn’t particularly large and you can’t expect to often hit someone who is alert and not prone to randomly pressing buttons. Overall, it’s strong but not necessarily crazy.

The Infinity Storm, on the other hand, is quite nuts. I wondered about whether the teammate would come back permanently at full health and it appears that one of the cases I considered came to pass: KO’d teammates do come back permanently, but they only revive with roughly 20 percent health.

Amusingly enough, that isn’t even the craziest part about the Soul Stone’s Infinity Storm. Viewers might have noticed during the trailer that both teammates were active on the screen at the same time and it turns out this wasn’t some special ability belonging to either character or dynamic camera work — this is another function of the stone’s Infinity Storm. Regardless of the reserve teammate’s status, both characters will become active on screen to wreak havoc on their opponent. During this time, the player is free to unleash whatever attacks and hyper combos that the game allows, presenting an exceptionally difficult situation for the opponent.

With such a strong ability, it stands to reason that there would be a major downside to using the stone and Max reveals that there is. As he explains, upon activating the stone’s Infinity Storm, the reviving character is left in a vulnerable state. As such, since the field doesn’t actually impact the abilities of any character, its possible for the activating player’s characters to get caught in a happy birthday (when both characters on a team get hit and subsequently caught in a combo). Furthermore, since the reviving character only has about 20 percent of their health, it won’t take much for them to get KO’d again.

Based on this new information, the Soul Stone looks like it could be devastating if used in the right hands. I was expecting Reality Stone to be the most used Infinity Stone (during the game’s infancy at the very least), but it seems the Soul Stone could also see an equal amount of usage.

Check out Maximilian’s complete breakdown of the Soul Stone in the video below:

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is coming out in a few short weeks and Capcom is looking to keep the hype at maximum levels before then, unveiling the Soul Stone and its fifth character trailer, showing off Firebrand, Jedah, Dormammu, and Ghost Rider in action.

The Soul Stone is the final Infinity Stone to be revealed and the wait was well worth it. Unlike other stones which had special properties when using its effect, this one is fairly one dimensional, though still seemingly impressive as it allows players to steal the opponents health when activating its Infinity Surge. The Soul Stone’s Infinity Storm looks to be equally impressive as it allows the player to revive a fallen character.

Unfortunately, the trailer — perhaps intentionally — doesn’t do a particularly good job in showcasing the nuances of the Soul Stone. The life bars are hidden so we don’t get to see how much health is drained, nor do we get to see whether it affects the yellow or red health bar. This is an important distinction because while draining yellow health is still a strong ability, draining red health means the opponent can’t regain as much health overall when they substitute their character. Similarly, we don’t see how much health a character gets or how long they remain alive when they’re revived by the stone’s Infinity Storm effect. Unless the stone’s meter takes a very long time to charge when compared to the others, then the ability to permanently revive a fallen character at full health is overpowered. It seems likely that the effect only lasts for the duration of the Infinity Storm, but the trailer ends before such speculation could be confirmed.

In either case, from a preliminary glance, the Soul Stone looks pretty strong, albeit somewhat wonky in implementation — a player who is doing well and is using the life drain effect properly will probably have both characters alive and have no one to revive.

Meanwhile, the trailer also showed off four characters of the demonic variety: Firebrand, Jedah, Dormammu, and Ghost Rider. The only character among the four new to the series is Jedah and we already saw gameplay of him at Evo 2017. Similarly, Capcom previously confirmed that Firebrand, Dormammu and Ghost Rider would be making an appearance at Gamescom 2017, so their inclusion shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows this game.

As for their movesets, the series veterans all seem to have at least one new move. Firebrand can create a violent gust of wind that launches opponents up into the air, Dormammu can swing his arms to instantly faceplant an aerial opponent and can use his Power of the Creator ability to summon fiery vines along the ground which bring opponents to him, and Ghost Rider has an attack where he repeatedly hits an enemy with his chain before ending the onslaught with a punch.

All in all, the Soul Stone, Jedah and the new moves for the veterans all look really cool, but we’ll have to wait until September to see how they play out in full.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite arrives for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on Sept. 19.

Check out the trailer below:

It’s been 10 years since gamers were introduced to the underwater city of Rapture and the iconic Big Daddy, and it looks like 2K Games plans on holding a celebration in honor of this, announcing a BioShock 10th Anniversary Collector’s Edition for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and an anniversary celebration party that will be held at PAX West 2017.

The BioShock 10th Anniversary Collector’s Edition won’t add much to the series in terms of gameplay or content, as it simply includes BioShock: The Collection, all three games in 1080p with all DLC attached, that came out last year. However, it does also come with a 11” Collectible Big Daddy & Little Sister Statue which features lights, audio, and a motorized drill. Of course, it wouldn’t be a 10th anniversary collector’s edition without a hefty price tag, and this one will cost U.S. residents (its unavailable everywhere else) $199.99.

As for the BioShock 10th anniversary celebration party, dubbed “Return to Rapture,” the event will be held at PAX West 2017 on Sept. 2 and feature cosplay contets, music, photo opportunities, themed food and drinks, and will be completely open to the public.

Those interested in getting their hands on the BioShock 10th Anniversary Collector’s Edition should move fast as its in extremely short supply and its already available for pre-order at GameStop and the 2K Store.

On the other hand, if you have no sense of urgency or simply not interested in being in possession of the collector’s edition, then check out a trailer commemorating BioShock‘s 10th anniversary below:

Yakuza has been on a tear in the West this year, with Yakuza 0 receiving rave reviews earlier this year and Yakuza Kiwami looking like it will achieve the same. And even though most audiences around the world are late to the party, it seems like Sega and Yakuza Studio will make sure they remain in the loop, as the new titles presentation that’s being held later this month will be livestreamed and viewable by everyone.

In case you missed it, Yakuza Studio announced late last month that it will be holding a new titles presentation on August 26 from 19:00 to 20:00 JST at UDX Theater in Akihabara. This announcement came after confirmation from series director Toshihiro Nagoshi that an announcement about the future of the series would be coming in two months time, promising that it would feature “stuff that’ll make people happy to hear.”

Now, fans the world over will be able to hear everything that Yakuza Studio has to say regarding the series, which is confirmed to include multiple title announcements, including “something expected,” by tuning in to YouTube, Fresh, and Niconico once the event begins.

If one were to hazard a guess about what will be announced during the event, the safest bet would be Yakuza 7. Remember, even though Yakuza 6 has yet to be released worldwide, it has been out in Japan since Dec. 8, 2016, so its definitely due for a new mainline entry. If one were to venture outside the box, then another possible guess could be a side story title featuring Goro Majima. He has always been an important character in the series and even became playable in Yakuza 0. Considering that one of the largest (and best) additions to Kiwami was a mechanic that centered around him, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched for Yakuza Studio to capitalize on his current popularity by featuring him in his own game.

Regardless of what titles are announced, however, it is almost certain that audiences outside of Japan will have to wait quite some time before they can get their hands on them. Though, the wait might not be as long this time around considering that Sega has become increasingly active in releasing the series to the West and other regions. In either case, with Kiwami coming out next week and 6 coming out early next year, fans outside of Japan will definitely have a lot on their plate while they wait.

As a reminder, the Yakuza Studio New Titles Presentation will be held on August 26 from 19:00 to 20:00 JST and can be viewed on YouTube, Fresh and Niconico, so be sure to watch if you’re interested in the series.

Earlier today, Bandai Namco revealed the vaguely named Projekt1514 to be Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet, the latest entry in its long-running list of Sword Art Online inspired games. And if you were to look at the reveal trailer and the new gameplay video, you might notice it bears a striking resemblance to a popular PlayStation Vita title from 2014: Freedom Wars.

Freedom Wars for the PlayStation Vita is one of the major Monster Hunter variants along with Soul Sacrifice, Ragnarok Odyssey, God Eater and Toukiden. Despite the crowded pool, it managed to carve out its own niche by having an interesting design and setting, along with unique combat mechanics. Just like in the other games in the genre, players are frequently tasked with taking down larger enemies that require more finesse than the average opponent; and that finesse came in the form of thorns, which are essentially grappling hooks which players could use to move around the field or latch onto enemies and attempt to cut their limbs or external weapons off. What made this mechanic so entertaining, is that not only would destroying these parts cause damage to the enemy, it would force them to change their movement or attack patterns (an enemy without any viable means to attack will resort to charging or jumping on players, for example).

Of course, the thorns in of themselves helped add to the complexity of the game, as there were three different types of them: red, green and grey. Red thorns could be used to trap and immobilize enemies, green thorns could be used to heal and revive allies and gray thorns could be used to boost a teammate’s defense or create barriers which blocked gunfire. When combined with six fully-customizable groups of weaponry and a customizable support unit with its own batch of weapons, there were plenty of ways to tailor your character to a given situation and there was little chance of finding a player who had the same setup as you online.

The game was very successful, attaining the second highest all-time opening sales for Vita software sold in Japan at the time and found a solid fanbase in other regions. Many had hoped that it would get a sequel, especially considering how the story ended; and while nothing was ever concrete, producer Junichi Yoshizawa did state during an interview in 2015 that a sequel would be possible depending on fan demand. Unfortunately, its the latter half of 2017 and there still has been no official mention of a Freedom War sequel.

Yet with the hopes of a sequel almost completely dead, there is still a lot for Freedom Wars fans to look forward to in Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet. Obviously, SAO: FB is not a straight-up replacement for a Freedom Wars sequel, but its hard not to notice the similarities between the two games after looking at some gameplay which recently surfaced on Dengeki Online’s YouTube Channel.

Just from this bit of gameplay, we see that players will be able to split into groups of four in order to carry out missions in multi-layered levels. Additionally, we see that players have two sets of weapons and there are multiple types of them (so far there are swords, pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles and sniper rifles). There’s no indication that any of these weapons will be customizable to the degree that was seen in Freedom Wars, but weapons with different effects have been a facet of the series for the past several entries, so there’s a chance it could reappear in Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet too.

There’s also the presence of grappling hooks which function somewhat similarly to the way thorns worked in Freedom Wars, though we only see it being used for movement in the video. It’s still possible that they could still be used for other purposes, such as support or latching onto giant enemies, and if that’s the case, then it might be tied into the game’s class system (for example, Kirito might be able to use the hook in a more offensive manner than Sinon because he is a melee class instead of a sniper).

Of course, there’s still the chance that placing such high hopes on Fatal Bullet might be a little too hasty and this point. Yes, the gameplay does resemble Freedom Wars so far, but its still an SAO title and they’re known for not having particularly large budgets. What’s more, developers now have to worry about using that budget to develop a game for three platforms — PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC — instead of just the PS4 and Vita.

Reservations aside, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet does still mean good things for Freedom Wars fans. Anything resembling a title as entertaining as Freedom Wars is greatly appreciated; and regardless of how well it does, Freedom Wars will be at the top of fan’s minds when they think of this game (it already is for some) which might cause them to become vocal for a sequel again. Hopefully, the right people listen will listen this time.

Capcom has announced that Resident Evil: Revelations will be arriving on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in North America on August 31 for $19.99.

Released for prevous-gen consoles in 2012, PlayStation Resident Evil: Revelations tells the intertwining stories of Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield between Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, depicting the events that took place shortly after the establishment of the counter-terrorism group BSAA. The game is split into two main sections: controlling Jill and Parker Luciani (her new partner) as they search for Chris and Jessica Sherawat (his new partner) at their last known location, the a cruise ship called the Queen Zenobia, and controlling Chris and Jessica as they make their way to the Zenobia (its a major plot point). Jill’s part plays more like a traditional Resident Evil, while Chris’ section is reminiscent of the action-oriented gameplay popularized by Resident Evil 5. Throughout the game players will encounter murder, intrigue and an overwhelming amount of horrifying creatures.

Since this game was for older consoles, Capcom took the time to update the graphics to match the power of the PS4 and Xbox One, setting the game at a resolution of 1080p. Those who played the original should immediately recognize the increased environmental detail and refined creature movements, which Capcom says will “add a whole new dimension to the terror.”

If getting what is essentially a remastered version of Resident Evil: Revelations for $19.99 wasn’t enough, Capcom decided to include all the DLC for Raid Mode for no extra cost. As such, both weapon packs and all the downloadable costumes will be available right out of the gate.

Here’s a rundown of what the DLC contains:

Weapon Pack Resistance Set

• G18 “Speed Load” Handgun
• P-90 “Sonic Assist” Machine Gun
• Windham “Steady Hand” Shotgun
• Python “Short Range+” Magnum
• High Roller “Speed Load” Machine Gun
• PSG1 “Long Range+” Sniper Rifle

Weapon Pack Enhancement Set

• “Speed Shot” Handgun
• MP5 “Speed Shot” Machine Gun
• Hydra “Sonic Assist” Shotgun
• L. Hawk “Speed Load” Magnum
• High Roller “Sonic Assist+” Machine Gun
• M40A1 “Sonic Assist+” Sniper Rifle

Raid Mode costume: Rachael Ooze
Raid Mode costume: Lady Hunk

With Capcom showing clear interest in its Revelations series, along with previous mentions of a new Resident Evil in the works, it would be great if that project turns out to be Revelations 3. If it does, then maybe it could feature characters that fans haven’t seen in a while (like what Capcom did with Revelations 2), such as Rebecca Chambers or Carlos Oliveira.

Sega has provided more news related to Yakuza Kiwami on the PlayStation Blog, announcing a bonus for digital pre-orders and details about the Majima Everywhere system.

The pre-order bonus is simple enough to understand, those who pre-order digital versions of Yakuza Kiwami will get a free PlayStation 4 theme featuring Kazuma Kiryu and Akira Nishikiyama. For now, this bonus only seems exclusive to digital pre-orders, so those who are already getting the steelbook edition are likely to miss out.

On the other hand, the Majima Everywhere system is a lot more expansive than what was initially believed. Revealed at E3 2017, the Majima Everywhere system — as the name implies — has Goro Majima appear randomly throughout Kamurocho so that he can “retrain Kiryu so that he may regain what he lost in the years he was away from the city.”

When Sega says Majima is everywhere, it wasn’t kidding. On the blog, Sega notes Majima could be hiding out inside of a trash bin or waiting to ambush Kiryu at a dance club. Sometimes you might even hear rumors about him, like when he’s pretending to be an officer at Millennium Tower who is on the lookout for people carrying suspicious weapons. Doing specific actions in the mentioned area — in this case, swinging around a knife or frozen tuna — will prompt him to come out and confront you in hilarious fashion.

As those who played Yakuza 0 might remember, Majima might be crazy, but he’s also unpredictable and unreasonably strong. Yakuza Kiwami emphasizes this by him fight Kiryu using the various styles the player spent so much money to have him master. Fights against Majima are rarely ever the same and he try to gouge your eyes out in one fight, attempt to rearrange your face with a baseball bat in another and break dance you into oblivion in the next. He has complete access to Heat Actions too, so be prepared to take serious damage if you aren’t cautious.

Though Majima is a tough customer, fighting him is the only way to level up Kiryu’s ultimate style, Dragon of Dojima. With that in mind, you should at least try to fight him, just be wary that he’ll probably find you when you don’t want him to.

Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the original Yakuza, featuring new mechanics introduced in Yakuza 0. The game is due out in the U.S. and Europe for the PlayStation 4 in August, and pre-orders are now live on the PlayStation Store.

While everyone eagerly awaits The Frozen Wilds DLC for Horizon Zero Dawn, Guerrilla Games has launched a big update for the base game which adds a variety of features that will surely keep even the most impatient of us placated until then.

There are several new features to look forward to in this update, but the chief among them are two new game modes: New Game+ and Ultra Hard mode.

New Game+ is exactly what it sounds like, allowing players to start the game from the beginning while keeping everything about their character intact, such as progression and inventory. Interestingly enough, your character will still be able to get experience points, but she’ll never rise above Level 50.

Meanwhile, Ultra Hard mode takes things to the next level in terms of difficulty. Enemies will have enhanced senses and behave more more intelligently, while the player won’t be able to regenerate their health as quickly. Just know that you apparently won’t be able to tune down the difficulty if things become too challenging, so be sure to make a spare file if you’re starting a Ultra Hard playthrough on NG+.

Guerrilla Games has also added some incentive for trying out the modes by adding two new trophies: one for beating the game on NG+ and another for beating NG+ on Ultra Hard.

Beyond that, there are a bunch of other facets that made their way into the update, such as various bug fixes and boosted support for all EU and US text Languages on EU and US games.

Check out the patch notes for Horizon Zero Dawn Patch 1.30 in full here.

When EA revealed that Star Wars Battlefront 2 would not only feature a full-fledged campaign mode and free DLC, many fans whooped and clamored at the notion of the Worst Company in America Award winners finally having a change of heart. Could it be that EA have finally changed their ways? Do they care about their fans? Well, they’ve published indie games recently, that’s good! They gave Mirror’s Edge a second chance! It was a bit pooey, but that’s not necessarily their fault. Have EA finally taken a miraculous turn from fiddle-playing robot Satan to a sparkling Jesus Christ? Hahaha, no.

You see, EA is like that guy on Fiverr who dresses up as Jesus Christ and calls your mate’s mum some form of profanity for a few quid. You can pay a pretty penny for him to give you a laugh and a tickle, but if you want the really good stuff, you’ll be wanting to pay double, if not triple, the price. EA’s dress-up Jesus is an act, a mirage of sparkling heavenly goodness, and nothing has shown this more than their treatment of microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront 2.

In order to try and wring every penny out of their customers, EA have obviously introduced loot boxes into Battlefront 2. Like everyone is now. There are loot boxes in Activision’s Modern Warfare Remastered for God’s sake! In Modern Warfare Remastered, however, the items found in said loot boxes are purely cosmetic and while it may be repulsive to inject microtransactions into the remaster of a decade-old game to fill Activision’s insatiable corporate gluttony, they don’t harm those who play the game normally.

Battlefront 2, on the other hand, is a different tale. In what could only be considered a massive punch in your Marksman-H training remote, (Get it? It was a Star Wars joke.) Electronic Arts have decided to put Battlefront’s unlockable Star Cards inside the game’s loot boxes.

“Why does that matter?”, you say. Well, let me tell you. The Star Card system in the original Battlefront game was an unlock system that allowed players to equip weapons or extra abilities that they would otherwise not have access to. Purchasable through credits earned from completing matches, the items available in higher tiers were some of the most unbalanced weaponry seen in recent multiplayer shooting and, judging from DICE’s record with weapon balancing, the sequel will probably be the same. While the last unlockable gun in a game is never the best weapon per se, Star Wars Battlefront proved that combinations of Star Cards could lead to an immensely overpowered build, and Battlefront 2 has locked all of that behind microtransactions.

It goes without saying that when unbalanced items are locked behind a high virtual paywall, players are going to have to earn their way to become scummy little game-breakers. As soon as you remove that skill or time barrier and replace said barrier with the option to pay, it immediately becomes pay-to-win.

Loot crates will be available to buy with real world money, and as they add more weapons through updates and DLC you can be sure that they’ll also be locked behind loot boxes, too. With loot rarities and being able to purchase more expensive boxes with chances of better loot, Battlefront 2 will quickly become a battle for who has either the most time, or who has the most money they can lob into EA’s bursting bank account.

I’m personally not against the inclusion of loot boxes and microtransactions in games, in fact, for the most part, I’m all for it. Overwatch’s myriad of skins, voice lines, and sprays are all part of what makes that game so fun, addicting and endearing; Blizzard could learn to stop locking huge chunks of skins behind specific schedules though. Injustice 2 is a game that does a very similar thing to Battlefront 2 by giving you pieces of gear for characters, although not only are their effects not active during ranked play—and can be turned off in casual—but NetherRealm’s fighter throws countless amounts of loot boxes at you so often it can be exhausting to open them all.

If anything, Battlefront 2 shows that EA are likely never going to change. While they may not be as transparently money-hungry as the voracious change-thieves Activision, EA will keep finding ways for consumers to throw money at their feet like desperate men at a seedy strip club. From Ultimate Team to Dead Space 3 and now to Star Wars Battlefront, EA are the best in the business at grabbing your wallet and slapping you with it.

Only time will tell if Battlefront 2 will end up as bad as it’s starting to look like. After all, between now and launch day there’s definitely time for the company to make substantial strides towards making their game consumer friendly. As it stands right now however, EA are some very Hungry, Hungry Hippos, but their marbles are your paychecks.

Insomniac Games turned heads at E3 this year when it showed off gameplay footage of Spider-Man for the PS4. It quickly became one of the most discussed games from Sony’s conference and even happened to catch the eye of someone who has quite a bit of experience with Spider-Man games: Chris Baker, who soon released a video detailing his thoughts about the upcoming game.

To those unfamiliar with him, Chris Baker has plenty of experience in the game industry, having worked in positions ranging from the Previews/Previews Editor for the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine to the Director of Research at VGMarket. One of the more notable parts of his career is that he has had an active role in the production of five Spider-Man games, and while he most likely doesn’t have much knowledge about the game specifically, its an incredibly rare chance to see someone with his level of experience discuss someone else’s work in this much detail.

(Scroll down to the bottom if you want to get straight to the analysis)

There isn’t anything necessarily concrete in the video, just a lot “let’s hopes,” “this could means” and potential easter eggs; but among all that speculation, there are two that are worth noting: costumes and villains.

At one point, Baker considers the possibility of players being able to create their own Spidey suits using aspects of previous and existing ones. Obviously, it’s impossible to know whether this will pan out, but we do already know that players will be able to use various pre-existing suits and that the white Spider-Man logo has some level of significance in the game.

Baker also considers the fact that Mister Negative might not be the only villain in the game. Considering that he was already revealed in the gameplay trailer, it would certainly make sense for him not to be. With a wealth of villains that Spider-Man has to contend with, it seems like a waste for players to only have to deal with one who has been already been confirmed. Its possible that there could be different villains doing their own operations in separate parts of the city or they could very well be working together on some huge nasty plot.

Needless to say, there is much more that Baker has to say about the trailer, so check out everything he has to say in the video below:

The Amazing Spider-Man will be at E3 2017, according to Insomniac Games who confirmed that the game will indeed make an appearance at the show.  After announcing the game at E3 2016 with an incredible trailer that showcased the game as an open world adventure title with incredible visuals, not much has been heard about it since.

“It’s true.  We’re bringing Spider-Man PS4 to E3 next week!,” reads a tweet from the developer.

Spider-Man has seen a number of video game entries in the last decade.  Some have been better than others, but none have looked as good in motion as what we saw from the trailer last year.  An open-world title, this Spider-Man game for PS4 is said to be neither tied to any stories in the comic book or movies.

Insomniac Games was once closely associated with Sony because of their work on the Ratchet & Clank and Resistance games,  it was a good get for PlayStation fans to hear that the developer would once again be creating exclusively for the PlayStation 4 after a stint that saw them working as a multiplatform developer.  Insomniac developed the well recieved Sunset Overdrive for the Xbox One early in its life-cycle, but has yet to make anything else exclusive for the platform.

Numerous sources say that the game will be ready for a 2017 release, and we’ve yet to hear of any delays on the project so a look at something more representative of the final product is what we should see at the show.

The PlayStation press conference on Monday night should be the spot to look for our first signs of Spider-Man.

Ever since Project Scorpio was announced at E3 2016, Microsoft has been using terms like “True 4K” and how the console’s GPU churns out 6 TFLOPS instead of the PlayStation 4 Pro’s 4 TFLOPS. It looks like that competitive spirit has made its way to the console’s teaser trailers. Recently, Microsoft released a number of short videos telling users that they will experience true power with the console. However, if you look at certain scenes, it seems that Microsoft is highlighting the roughly 2 TFLOPS difference between their device and the competition.

It’s probably not a coincidence that “6>4” is clearly visible on one of the banners. 6 TFLOPS obviously referring to Project Scorpio’s computational power and 4 TFLOPS is what the PlayStation 4 Pro produces. However, that’s not all. In another scene, the price and release date may have been revealed. Believing this requires a greater leap of faith but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Another still from the teaser reads “X10S101-317″. “X10S” may refer to Project Scorpio and the “101-317” may mean that the console is coming out on October 13, 2017. Or it might just be a bunch of nonsensical figures which have no connection—no matter how tenuous they are—to anything. There are some gamers out there who believe that the “X10S101-317” is a code for an image which points to a $399 price tag. We won’t know until June 11 when Microsoft reveals everything about the console.

Whenever companies release games or hardware, they love inserting various Easter eggs. While it’s highly likely that the “6>4” text is a reference to the power difference between Project Scorpio and PlayStation 4 Pro, “X10S101-317″ could mean anything. However, like with any Easter egg, it’s always a blast to speculate on the possibilities. Until we have confirmation about the release date, you should take the “leaked” release date with a grain of salt. Apart from that, let the theories flow.

There was no doubt that we’d be getting a new Call of Duty game this year, but all the speculation surrounded what era this one would be set in. After some recent leaks, it was officially confirmed the other day that Call of Duty: WW2 is indeed real and a full reveal is coming in a few days. While we’re waiting for that announcement, some other leaks have come out and the latest involves the timed exclusivity of the game’s map packs.

In more recent years, the practice of time exclusivity has become a bigger deal when it comes to downloadable content, with Call of Duty being at the forefront. Xbox platforms had first dibs for awhile, but for the last couple years Sony and the PlayStation 4 have received them first, which is looking to continue with Call of Duty: WW2.

This information comes via Amazon UK, which has been the first retailer to post cover art for the game on its various platforms. Specifically on the listing with the cover art for the PS4 version however, you will notice the logo that has been on previous games that states you get to play the map packs 30 days early as a PlayStation exclusive.

This is no surprise at all considering that it has been this way the last few years, but considering we saw a switch a few years ago, it could have always happened again. As with the past, this just means that the map packs will first launch on PlayStation 4 and then come to Xbox One and PC a month later for you to enjoy.

There is still plenty more details to be revealed about Call of Duty: WW2, so make sure to stay tuned for any information that comes out of the livestream announcement this coming Wednesday.

The NPD Group has released their figures for video game hardware and software sales for March 2017 and saw big percentage increases year over year in almost all categories, with the biggest leap being in hardware as Nintendo released the Switch.

That said the Nintendo Switch was the number one console sold in March.  The chart topper was not only a best for the month of March among its peers, but it was also a best for Nintendo itself, topping it’s previous best seller the Gameboy Advanced which launched over 15 years ago.  NPD says that the Switch was one of the biggest successes of any hardware launch since 1995.  We gave the console high marks in our review of the Nintendo Switch.

Surprisingly enough, however, Ubisoft hit the top of the software list with Ghost Recon: Wildlands beating out The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the top spot.  For all the flak it caught, Ghost Recon: Wildlands has had the second best debut ever for a Tom Clancy title and is the best seller of all of the great games we’ve seen in 2017 thus far.  The Division still holds the top spot for a Tom Clancy debut though.  Mass Effect: Andromeda came in third, and that saw sales tail off behind that of which we saw for Mass Effect 3.  The top five was rounded out by a couple of PlayStation 4 exclusives with Horizon: Zero Dawn and MLB 17: The Show.

You can check out the full top ten below:

NPD Software Top 10 March 2017

• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Record: Wildlands (Ubisoft)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild  (Nintendo)
• Mass Effect: Andromeda (Electronic Arts)
• Horizon: Zero Dawn  (Sony)
• MLB 17: The Show  (Sony)
• Grand Theft Auto V  (Take-Two)
• For Honor  (Ubisoft)
• NBA 2K17 (Take-Two)
• Nier: Automata (Square Enix)
• Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Activision Blizzard)

It’ll be interesting to see if Nintendo can keep up the pace with their Nintendo Switch sales.  There was obviously a lot of pent-up demand for the new Legend of Zelda game, but the summer appears to be looking strong for the console with Splatoon on the horizon.  To tide Switch owners over, and to possibly entice new interest when consoles finally come back in stock, the excellent Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be arriving later this month.