It’s not so surprising that the beleaguered online game-streaming service OnLive is officially shutting down later this month. What is a bit surprising is how Sony (NYSE: SNE) swooped in to pick its bones clean by purchasing OnLive’s patent rights, presumably to bolster its own game-streaming service PlayStation Now.

It is with great sadness that we must bring the OnLive Game Service to a close. Sony is acquiring… Read More: http://t.co/WGaO1IsrmY

— OnLive (@OnLive) April 2, 2015

Starting April 30 all of the databanks that powered OnLive subscriptions will be wiped.

That means all your PlayPass games, saved files, achievements and account information will be deleted and all game-streaming hardware (and the controllers) will be rendered useless.

“After April 30, 2015, our data centers will shut down and the service will be offline,” the company’s support page wrote in a recent FAQ.

“All accounts will be closed, and all data deleted including game save data, achievements, and credit card data will be deleted. If you purchased a Steam game from OnLive, that game will still be available on Steam.

“No refunds will be available for any game purchases, hardware purchases, or subscriptions.”

Although the service is being axed, there is one way you’ll be able to keep your save files and achievements. If you happened to use CloudLift, a feature that let you stream-play games from your Steam library, your data will still be intact.

While OnLive has been in trouble for a while, it bridged an accessibility gap by letting Mac users play PC games on their machines.

Essentially the service was used as a sort of intermediary between the two system types, and soon gamers will be left with a Steam library filled with games they might not be able to play.

Plus, as the FAQ notes, you won’t be getting any refunds from Steam games you purchased through OnLive. Plus those exclusive OnLive controllers are so exclusive that they aren’t compatible with any other devices or hardware.

OnLive’s patents were a big acquisition by Sony, and could be used to completely turn around their flagging PlayStation Now game steaming service.

While this is as big disappointment for many, Sony has won out big here. The Japanese gaming titan has acquired an extensive patent portfolio specifically targeting cloud-based game-streaming.

Thus armed with OnLive’s array of patents, Sony stands to enhance and fortify its currently underwhelming and unpopular PlayStation Now game-streaming service.

Harnessing the raw power of Gaikai, which Sony purchased and absorbed into its own cloud framework, these patents could very well swing a huge blow towards the Japanese console-maker’s competitors.

“These strategic purchases open up great opportunities for our gamers, and gives Sony a formidable patent portfolio in cloud gaming,” said Philip Rosenberg, a Sony Computer Entertainment exec.

It is yet another proof point that demonstrates our commitment to changing the way gamers experience the world of PlayStation.”

But are OnLive’s strategies enough? The company did fail, after all, and the service is being nixed, so there will indefinite hurdles ahead of Sony copies their path.

All in all the big problem with PlayStation Now is how it’s marketed. Sony has experimented with offering a rental-fee structure when PS Now launched, and now the company offers monthly subscription plans at $19.99/month or $44.99 for 3 months.

Even still gamers still aren’t buying and are reticent to adopt the new platform. Considering how much games cost these days, and the current exploitative trends of the industry, I’m not surprised.

Investing in cloud gaming hasn’t come cheap for Sony. Back in 2012 it shelled out $380 million for Gaikai, the framework that would power the present-day PS Now.

We still don’t know how much the company paid for OnLive’s filed patents, but so far the cloud-gaming business hasn’t been very profitable for the PlayStation creators.

The post Sony Buys Up OnLive’s Patents Amid Service Shutdown appeared first on VR World.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) has announced that the long-awaited Spotify app will launch on PS3 and PS4 later today, and that the app will be exclusive to PlayStation systems “for the foreseeable future”.

The PlayStation Music app, which taps the power of the music-streaming service Spotify, is free on both PlayStation consoles.

An active PlayStation Plus isn’t required and it’s free to listen to music, however a premium subscription is offered for $9.99 a month that blocks out ads and improves stream quality. Sony is offering a free 30-day trial for the service.

The app will be available to download on the PlayStation Store, but most users will find it already on their console, replacing the Music Unlimited app on the main menu.

Using PlayStation’s new Spotify app, users can easily listen to customized playlists and music tracks without going through the hassle of switching between the pesky Music Unlimited and the game session.

Sony has locked down exclusivity rights for Spotify as well, signalling that app software has joined as a major contributor of the timed exclusivity console wars.

“PlayStation [consoles] have gaming exclusivity,” Sony Computer Entertainment Europe UK marketing director Murray Pannell told Eurogamer.

But how long with the timed exclusivity last? “That’s to be decided exactly, but certainly for the foreseeable [future].”

While Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox One won’t get access to Spotify, it does have its own premium console-based music streaming service called Xbox Music Pass. The service is priced at $9.99 a month and features cross-platform streaming across various devices, and even supports offline streaming.

The Spotify PS4 and PS3 is a win for Sony because it replaces their awful Music Unlimited service and lets users actually listen to music while playing a game. But in terms of competition, it isn’t a big deal to Microsoft, considering it has its own unique multi-platform music service.

Along with the live TV streaming service PlayStation Vue, this move into a more consolidated music streaming service fits in with Sony’s major new rebranding focus.

It’ll be interesting to see how app software is leveraged in the future to bolster each console brand, and how it fits in with each company’s growing ecosystem.

Also before you hand over your credit card information to Sony, be aware that the company doesn’t have the best track record in regards to protecting your info, and is constantly hit by hackers. Buyer beware!

The post Spotify PS4 And PS3 App Launches Today, Is Timed Exclusive appeared first on VR World.

With the recent news of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Jaws of Hakkon DLC being timed exclusive for Xbox One and PC, gamers are once again at the mercy of the strategic business tactic.

And it’s seriously aggravating the community whose paid good money for their games only to be denied content because they don’t own the competitor’s console.

If you play Dragon Age: Inquisition on PS4, then you’ll have to wait an undetermined amount of time before you get the DLC. EA’s (NASDAQ: EA) signed agreement prevents them from even delivering a timeframe, showing just how far these exclusivity deals can go.

We can not discuss when Jaws of Hakkon will be coming on other platforms

— Mark Darrah (@BioMarkDarrah) March 23, 2015

Instead of creating their own exclusive games for their respective systems, gaming titans like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Sony (NYSE: SNE) have taken to a new game: buying out the rights to have multi-platform games and content come to their consoles first.

The unfortunate future of gaming

Timed exclusivity first manifested itself with Bungie’s huge multi-platform hit Destiny. Sony signed a major deal with Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) that ensured specific content would be exclusive to PlayStation platforms up until a certain timeframe, punishing Xbox gamers to no end.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a Xbox One timed exclusive, and no one’s sure when it’ll come to PS4.

Microsoft did the same thing with Rise of the Tomb Raider, snagging a deal with Square Enix (TYO: 9684) and Crystal Dynamics that ensured the game would release first on Xbox consoles. We still don’t know when Rise of the Tomb Raider will release on PlayStation 4.

Sony even went so far as to snag a timed-exclusivity deal over No Man’s Sky once it realized how popular the game is in the gaming community.

Then there’s Titanfall 2, which is coming to the PS4 now that Respawn Entertianment is free of the exclusivity deal it signed with Microsoft for the original Titanfall.

It’s a bad and confusing business tactic in terms of consumer relations, as timed exclusivity ultimately alienates your constituency while also building shaky brand loyalty.

So why do it at all?

No Man’s Sky has gained incredible momentum, and remains one of the most anticipated Sony timed exclusives.

Why embrace timed exclusivity?

Console game exclusives don’t have the big payoff they once did. Back in the days of the original Xbox and PlayStation 2, Microsoft and Sony were both able to fire off a ton of first-party exclusives that helped define their brands. And since the games couldn’t be played anywhere else, it worked.

But in today’s industry, multi-platform games reign supreme and exclusives have taken a backseat. The big AAA hits are more accessible than ever, and you often don’t have to have any one system to play them.

Now that multi-platform is a secure bet, publishers are less-inclined to take the risk of developing a game on a single platform, considering they’d be missing out on the revenue streams from sales across all systems.

Sony and Microsoft’s first-party publishers are reticent as well, as they recognize the dynamic shift for cross-platform consumption as a clear threat to their respective regimes.

Every new exclusive is a gamble, and sometimes they can be multi-million dollar bets that don’t pay off, leading to crumbling sales and over-extending projections.

The post Timed Exclusives Are The Future of Gaming appeared first on VR World.

In a recent post on the PlayStation Blog Sony (NYSE: SNE) has confirmed the PS4’s new 2.50 firmware update will release tomorrow.

The new update, codenamed “Yukimura“, adds in a ton of extra functionality to the console including the long-awaited suspend/resume feature, trophy screenshots, custom button-mapping, and even full system HDD backups.

Suspend/resume effectively adds a sort of low-power pause menu, letting gamers jump right back into any session from the PS4’s Rest Mode.

Suspend/resume takes the frontline as the most anticipated addition introduced with firmware v 2.50; originally announced as a PS4 launch feature, Sony had delayed the function due to technical difficulties.

Come tomorrow users will finally be able to seamlessly jump right back into any session where they left off without needing to load or start up the game itself. The PS4 must be put into Rest Mode before suspend/resume can be used, as it won’t work if the system is turned completely off.

Here’s a look at what a game looks like when it’s been resumed with the suspend/resumd feature.

One surprising new feature is the ability to fully back up and restore your PS4’s hard drive to an external USB drive. This includes everything from saved game data, games, screenshots, videos–the works.

Being able to backup and restore your precious data is an amazing feature and lets players avoid the soul-crushing data corruption that can plague our digital files.

While PS Plus already automatically uploads save files to Sony’s cloud, this feature adds even more depth to ensure your beloved data stays safe.

With the Yukimura update you can now customize button assignments for different game.

New accessibility options include the oft-requested customized button-mapping (right in time for the Final Fantasy X HD remaster!) as well as the convenience of text-to-speech for party interactions and messages.

Remote Play and Share Play are also getting updated to support 60 frames-per-second gameplay and streaming, but you’ll have to download a new compatibility update for the PS Vita. Also your connection must meet bandwidth requirements to stream 60fps across Share Play, so be forewarned.

Sony affirms that the PS Vita update will be released tonight, along with a new software update for the mobile PlayStation App.

All in all the update looks pretty solid and adds in a bevy of new functionality to the PlayStation 4.

Oddly enough it’s becoming more and more like an Xbox One with its trophy screenshots and suspend/resume implementation, which the Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) all-in-one system supported on launch despite Sony’s own promises.

Then again the PS4 features Share Play and a more dynamic friend system, plus now supports video uploads directly to YouTube and DailyMotion, which is pretty huge. While the Xbox One has only just now received screenshot support, it trumps the PS4 in terms of multimedia playback, so the two systems are still pretty different.

Also let’s hope that the beta test for Yukimura worked out all the kinks and bugs, and no one’s consoles get bricked.

The PS4’s previous major system updates proved to be quite disastrous, forcing Sony to institute a beta testing system for future updates.

Check below for a full list of features that Yukimura will add when it’s released tomorrow:

• Suspend/Resume* — Supported by nearly all of your PS4 games, you can jump in and out of your games with just the press of the PS button. Quickly switch from Rest Mode to powered-up so you can pick up where you left off.
• Back-Up and Restore HDD to USB — Back-up and restore your hard disc drive data associated with users on your PS4, including settings, saved data, screenshots and video clips as well as games, patches and download data, to and from an external USB drive.
• Find and Connect with Friends — “Yukimura” adds to an already robust set of social tools, bringing several updates to continue making PS4 the best place to play with your friends, including:
  • Facebook Friend Finder — Using your linked account, you can expand your network by searching and connecting with your Facebook friends.
  • Improved Friend requests — Friend requests and Real Name requests can be sent together in one step when adding a friend on PS4.
  • Streamlined Party process — The process to create a Party has been streamlined with a reduction in the number of steps required.
  • Find Friends who play your games — Easily view what friends are playing on each game detail page with a real-time “Friends Who Play This” section, which also highlights which friends are currently online and playing it, and if you own the game, allows you to jump directly into the game.
  • Join Friends directly from news feed — A new tile will be added on your What’s New feed where you can see what your friends are currently playing, enabling you to join in the game if you own it.
• Share Earned Trophies and Optimize Your Trophy List — We know that Trophies are important to many gamers, so we’re bringing more control with how you show them off:
  • Automatic Trophy Screenshots — A screenshot will automatically be captured when a Trophy is earned, preserving the moment to share with friends.
  • SHARE Trophies — Players can share Trophy information to Facebook, Twitter or via Message by pressing the SHARE button.
  • Additional Trophy sorting options — Sort your Trophy list by Earned Date, Not Earned and Grade.
  • Delete 0% Trophies — Remove games from your Trophy list that have zero percent completion.
• Improved and Expanded Accessibility Options — New options added to customize the user experience include:
  • Customized button assignments for DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller.
  • Zoom for displayed pictures and inverted colors for all system functions, apps and in-game.
  • Text-to-speech for all graphical user interface, including Message and Party.
  • Enlarged text for all graphical user interface, including Message and Party, as well as the system’s browser.
  • Bolder fonts and higher contrast UI for all system applications (but will not apply to games or third-party applications).
• Remote Play and Share Play — For games that support 60 fps, users will be able to automatically enjoy those games with 60 fps for both Remote Play and Share Play** on supported devices.
• Automatic Installation for System Software Updates — Enable automatic installation for future system software updates.
• Sub-Account Upgrade — Enable users 18 years of age or older with sub-accounts to upgrade to a master account directly on PS4, removing restrictions on chat and enabling users to add funds to their Wallet, purchase content and more.
• Verified Accounts — Select game developers, producers, designers and community managers will be verified with a badge.
• Dailymotion — Upload video clips directly to Dailymotion via the SHARE button.

The post Suspend/Resume Coming to PS4 Tomorrow appeared first on VR World.

Sony’s (NYSE: SNE) cost saving measures continue as it has decided to forgo its own brick and mortar stores and will be closing down the remainder of its stand alone Sony Store as their leases expire. Sony will be mitigating its costs and risks with physical retail locations by moving exclusively to an in-store Sony Experience similar to what Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Samsung (KRX:005935) already do with retail partners. However, this cost saving move may show Sony to be in worst financial straits than anyone with the company’s cares to admit to investors.

Over the last year, Sony has begun exiting shrinking margin technologies in the hopes to recapture market share in its remaining divisions. When the global PC market slowed down, Sony spun off its VAIO PC division to stem the tides of losses as PC sales gave way to Mobile Computing sales as Smart Phones and Tablets became the new kings of daily computing life for the global masses.

Recently, rumors continue to surround Sony selling off its Sony Mobile division as the duopoly in Smart Phone and Tablets continue with Apple and Samsung with anyone else needing to be able to survive multiple years of losses in order to leech market share away.

Shifting focus, but at a cost

At this rate, Sony may even be reconsidering its television hardware division as it continues to lose global market shares and the market continues to be flooded by sets from Samsung, LG, Visio, as well as up and coming manufacturers from China. Over the last few years, Sony has been plagued from a lack of innovation in its product line — as well as a struggle to remain cost-competitive — and it seems that Sony now only cares about its camera line and Playstation hardware segments which are Sony’s last high margin hardware product divisions.

Sony’s focus seems to have switched into entertainment based high margin industries but these are not without its own tribulations. The third-quarter losses were due to its Sony Picture Entertainment division surrounding the high profile cyber attack related to the movie, The Interview. The hack and subsequent leak of multiple movies and corporate documents have caused a shake up with the company ousting from management executive Amy Pascal after 12 years.

Additionally, Sony Pictures deal with Marvel over the Spiderman franchise rights shows its unwillingness to take additional risks at this time and would rather alleviate any possible points for loss with partnership agreement with Marvel to ensure as much of a good outcome as possible for the company.

Sony’s strenghs

Sony’s primary bright spot is with its Sony Computer Entertainment subsidiary and its Playstation being the current market leader over Microsoft’s Xbox One and Nintendo’s (TYO: 7974) Wii U. Sony continues to leverage its library of games from its past four generations of gaming consoles in order to continue to break into new markets such as streaming.

Its Playstation Vue may become a real rival with time but in a market dominated by Netflix and Hulu with the likes of Apple and HBO trying to break in, Sony leverage lies in its movies, music, and video games which the company is trying to fully leverage. Sony is doing what critics have been trying to get Nintendo to do for years, be willing to license its library and characters properties in order to better grow their ecosystem, introduce a new generation to its properties, and profit.

Sony over the last few years has enacted multiple restructures across in subsidiaries in order to cut laggard divisions and move into newer high margin area in increase profits and ensure the longevity of the company.

What does the future hold?

Yet, these spin offs have not strengthened the company’s fundamental, but have just mitigated Sony’s exposure to volatile industries at a time of global economic uncertainty. These new high margin streaming service division for television/movies, music and video games come at a time where other large players are entering the field with larger warchests than Sony.

The company is some ways is losing its identify and becoming similar to the fall which Apple and Kodak (NYSE: KODK) experienced.

While the renaissance which Apple experienced under Steve Job’s return and its increase in innovation and R&D helped to make it the corporate giant today; Kodak could not find its purpose in the modern word and it took a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in order for the company to shed laggards and institute a strategic shift in corporate philosophy. Only time will tell what the fate of Sony will be. For now, investors should simply hold the stock and wait and see what the results of Sony’s corporate strategy will be.

The post Is Sony Imploding: Time to Call for a Hold? appeared first on VR World.

PlayStation Vue, Sony’s (NYSE: SNE) web-based service that brings live TV broadcasts to PlayStation consoles, is now available today in New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago.

PS Vue “aims to take the burden out of watching television”, and essentially unifies all the functionality of a cable set-top box with a customized Netflix-like subscription model.

Subscribers can schedule, record and save their favorite TV shows thanks to Vue’s DVR, and since the content goes directly to Sony’s cloud network, you won’t have to worry about all that HD video eating up your precious hard drive space.

The service also has a considerable on-demand presence that taps into Sony’s established PlayStation Store content. “Vuers” get the further benefit of a “smart customization” feature that learns what you like and adapts to your preferences, tailoring to your specific tastes.

Subscription fees are on a month-by-month basis, and there are three different plans: $50 a month for Access, $60 a month for Core and $70 monthly for Elite.

Each successive tier delivers more channel options, and Core brings a dedicated sports package whereas the Elite plan includes everything in the previous tiers along with extra lifestyle, music and family channels

If you live in the trio of launch cities you can get a free 7-day trial to PlayStation Vue.

The service launches today with “over 75 channels” including major content providers like Fox, CBS, Comedy Central, Bravo, Nickelodeon and even AMC, which will be available next month. Below we have a handy list of what you can expect from the service:

• CBS – At launch, PlayStation®Vue will offer the live linear signal from CBS Television Network’s owned-and-operated TV stations in select leading markets in addition to on-demand prime-time programming.

• Discovery Communications – Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, Discovery Family Channel and 11 more brands.

• Fox – FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD. Additionally FOX Sports’ national and regional programming services – FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, BTN, Fox’s regional sports networks, including YES Network and Prime Ticket. The agreement also covers Fox’s owned and operated television stations.

• NBCUniversal – All local offerings from NBC, Telemundo and regional sports networks as well as Bravo, CNBC, E!, NBCSN, Oxygen, Sprout, Syfy, USA Network and more.

• Scripps Networks Interactive – HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network and Cooking Channel.

• Viacom – BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, PALLADIA, Spike, VH1 and more.

Sony’s bold gambit to circumvent cable and satellite providers might pave the way for other console-makers to follow suit. With PlayStation Vue, Sony’s home consoles become decidedly all-in-one style systems that embrace a new frontier of TV-over-internet streaming on a games console.

It’ll be interesting to see how the market responds to the service, and what kinks and follies arise on the way. First and foremost is Sony’s problem with securing customer’s credit card info with it’s shaky online framework, whose security has been make a mockery of time and time again.

It might be possible to use prepaid PS Store cards to pay for the recurring monthly fee, but odds are that you’ll need to use a credit card, and that means entrusting Sony with a responsibility it’s proven it’s not so ready to handle.

Be sure to drop by the official PS Vue website for more info.

The post Sony’s PlayStation Vue Live TV Service Launches In Select Cities appeared first on VR World.

Sony’s (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation Network has once again come under fire for its lax security infrastructure that’s led to compromised credit-cards and fraudulent charges.

But what’s even worse is how everyday gamers get punished by the company’s strange policies when trying to clear up the disputes, and how badly they’re treated for doing nothing wrong.

One Reddit user who goes by the handle of kadjar has shared his disappointing story with the /r/Gaming community, detailing Sony’s horribly exploitative methodologies used to resolve fraudulent charges made by PSN hackers.

And the worst part about it is that this could happen to any PSN gamer, at any time. Unless, of course, you never ever file your credit card info with your PSN account.

“My PSN account got hacked this morning,” kadjar began. “Sony support has given me only two options: eat $450 in fraudulent charges and be unable to use my account for 6 months, or dispute the charges with my bank and have my account banned forever.”

And it all started with a few e-mails.

After getting a bunch of e-mail receipts for content he didn’t purchase, kadjar instantly logged into his PSN account and removed his credit card from the PSN account.

“As the transactions came in, one-by-one, it became immediately cl0ear that my account had been hacked,” he said in the Reddit post.

After changing his e-mail  and password and unlinking his credit card, he called Sony support. But it was already too late. The damage had been done, and kadjar’s credit card had been charged over $600 in fraudulent charges.

Many users’ personal credit card information was compromised during the infamous 2011 PlayStation Network hack.

The next step was to get things straightened out with Sony support.

Surely the Japanese console maker had polices in place that protected their users against this sort of thing, right? Especially after the huge 2011 PSN outage where countless users’ personal information was hacked into and stolen.

Surely Sony would have learned from its mistakes to put its consumers–and subscribers–first. Right?

After speaking with a Sony support representative, kadjar was met with a troubling revelation: as per company policy, Sony is only able to refund transactions up to $150, which would go to your PSN wallet, not your bank account.

Plus $150 was just a fraction of the whopping $600 total of charges.

The kicker is that if kadjar went down this route, he’d be banned from his account for half a year.

“The Sony representative told me that they are only permitted to refund transactions of up to $150,” kadjar affirmed in the post.

But that’s not even the worst part.

Sony’s PSN policies are so backwards that if someone gets their account hacked and chooses to dispute the charges with their bank, that their PlayStation Network account would be permanently banned from the network.

Plus you’d also lose any purchases attached to your account–all the games, content, movies, etc would be forfeit.

“He also informed me that I could dispute the charges with my bank, but by doing so, my account would be banned from PSN. As a result, I would permanently lose all of my purchases, including the Last of Us Remastered.”

Let that sink in for a minute. A hacker breaks into your account, buys a bunch of things on your credit card, and Sony doesn’t help you out. No. They want you to pay for someone else’s purchases.

“Furthermore, my account will not be able to activate a new system for 6 months, per Sony policy. I’m completely locked out of my own account until that date.

“I then asked about what would happen if I got my bank to reverse the charges, and he informed me that it would result in a banned account.

“I asked if there would be any way to restore my purchases, and he told me that there would not be, but I “only have the Last of Us and a couple of the monthly free deal games,” so it’s not a big deal.”

And they even go so far as to literally discourage you by saying if you don’t pay for the charges, that you’ll lose your PSN account and all your games. How is this fair? How is this even a thing?

How could it get any worse? But for kadjar, it does: the hacker didn’t just rack up purchases, but he actually stole the account entirely, registering a foreign PS4 to it and thereby basically making it his own.

“The Sony rep also informed me that my existing PS4 had been deactivated from the network this morning, and that a new one had been activated.

“When I asked him to deactivate that new, mystery PS4, he said he could not. I then turned on my PS4, logged in with my new credentials, and attempted to activate my PS4 with my account, but it informed me that I could not activate it as long as there was another PS4 bound to my account.”

Kadjar even went so far as to post his complete log of transcripts with Sony support to prove that this is indeed how the Japanese console-maker handles fraudulent charges.

Other users have corroborated kadjar’s story with nightmare scenarios of their own. “Sony is holding my PSN account hostage” claims one user, and rightfully so. Another gamer has posted up a screenshot of their transcript with Sony chat support, detailing another horrible exploitative scenario.

Sony Can’t Catch the Hackers, So You Have to Pay

This is completely and totally unacceptable, Sony.

You are punishing the very people who made you what you are, you are creative an environment that panders to hackers and criminals and leaving honest, everyday gamers to pick up a tab for fees incurred by debased cyber-criminals.

Punishing gamers for legitimately wanting to dispute charges they didn’t make is absolutely disgusting, and you should be ashamed of yourselves. Banning someone’s account and taking away every game they’ve ever played or owned unless they pay up is not unlike holding hostages for ransom.

This isn’t the way to repay your customers. This is the way to make people swear off PlayStation altogether and share their experiences with as many people as they can. Anything to show gamers how Sony treats its constituency when they need help the most.

A recent panel showcased the methods used to cripple and crack online networks like Sony’s PSN.

The PlayStation Network is tumultuous and turbulent at best, with hackers constantly pressing in throngs against the cyber gates of Sony’s digital service.

These reports only add in even more healthy skepticism to what is already a very testy online framework, making the targeted mayhem much more worrisome than the widespread crashes that interrupt our gameplay.

Maybe some day we won’t have to worry about being struck by hackers and then successively attacked by Sony’s reflex policies that hold our accounts hostage if we’re ever hacked, but for now, we’re stuck.

There are a few things you can do to help better safeguard your account, but the best thing to do is change your passwords and unlink your credit card info right away.

What You Can Do to Protect Your Account

The safest thing you can do to avoid this nasty situation is to simply never attach your credit card info to your PSN account. Given the convenience of digital sales, that’s easier said than done.

But you can make it harder for hackers to break into your account.

• Unlink your Credit Card - This should be done as soon as possible. You can pick up PS Plus vouchers in any store or even buy codes online. You can also buy digital PSN currency for digital games and content online and at various retailers. If you must use your credit card to add funds make sure you remove it after the purchase is complete.

• Update your passwords frequently – Make sure you always update your passwords–maybe once a month or so–and include multiple characters to generate secure passwords. LastPass has a great secure password generator that randomizes letters, words and symbols to make your digital keys difficult to guess.

• Update security info on PSN acount – Check your Wallet section on your PSN account for a settings page. Here you can add an option to require password entries every time you checkout–which really isn’t very useful considering the hacker already has access to your password if he’s hacked into your account. But at the very least you can turn off recurring subscription payments if you decide to keep your credit card active.

• Pay close attention to e-mails - Every time you purchase something on PSN, whether it’s redeeming a free PS Plus game or buying a new digital title, you get an e-mail receipt confirmation sent to your inbox. You should know right away if something is wrong, but as we’ve seen, by then it’s almost too late.

All in all Sony has messed up here. After being hacked and having their finances abused, users are already rattled, but Sony makes no attempt to make up for the rude invasion of privacy or even help the situation. But that doesn’t matter, not to a company: what matters is that they get their money.

Someone has to pay for it, Sony must think, and it might as well be the people who have been paying from day one: the consumer.

The post PSN Hacker Racks Up $600 in Fraudulent Charges, Sony Refuses To Help appeared first on VR World.

Virtual reality is undoubtedly an immersive feast for the eyes, and accompanied by surround sound headphones that pump in realistic high-def sounds to our ears, users are pulled into a digital world.

But what about our other senses? What about those who actually want to smell their digital universe?

The attachment is a novel idea, but as you can see it’s a rather bizarre piece of hardware that traps your visage in a claustrophobic mask that looks quite uncomfortable.

The FeelReal Mask is a curious VR peripheral that aims at injecting more “reality” into your virtual reality sessions by simulating the sense of smell to virtual reality (yes, really). It will also deliver minor temperature fluctuations to simulate hot air, wind and even water mist.

It’s rightly labeled as a “mask” considering when you strap it on to VR hardware you’re pretty much obscuring your entire face, trapping your features in a bizarre claustrophobic contraption for the sake of “total immersion”.

The FeelReal Mask as showcased at GDC 2015. (Photo Credit: The Verge)

Since you’re mouth will be completely covered up, the mask features a Bluetooth microphone to ensure you’re not completely vocally cut-off from the outside world.

It seems like a novel concept from the start, but once you see what you have to go through to get your senses doused in the “full VR presence”, the FeelReal Mask will most likely scare everyone off. Smell is an inherently important sense, and is more closely tied to memory than any other of our five senses, so successfully tapping this reservoir could lead to potential interactive gold.

But how does the mask work? Loaded with a cartridge that produces seven unique smells that waft through “odor generating vents”, the oddity is tethered to the headset by Bluetooth and powered by a battery with a four-hour life cycle.

Hot and cool air are funneled through dual-sided vents along your upper cheekbones to simulate wind and the like, whereas the water mist lightly sprays at separate dual-sided vents along your cheeks.

The “odor generator” is right under your nose–like literally right under your schnozz while wearing the headset–and delivers the following scents:

• Ocean
• Jungle
• Fire
• Grass
• Powder
• Flowers
• Metal

The mask is attachable to just about every piece of VR tech out there including the Oculus Rift, Project Morpheus, Valve’s Vive headset and even Zeiss VR One.

The Verge tried out the hardware at GDC 2015 and likened it to “smell-o-vision” for VR.

The publication described it as “strapping a foam block over your mouth and nose, putting yourself at the mercy of its air vents,” and saying that it’s basically a “gas mask arranged into a little smiling face.”

While the FeelReal Mask is certainly a unique specimen in terms of adding smell to VR, we’ve seen other peripherals that aim to bring total immersion to the virtual world.

Hardware like the Dexmo exoskeleton from Dexta Robotics and the mo-capping CyberGlove are helping bring the sense of touch to virtual reality, laying the framework for technologies that could very well introduce hardware of Lawnmower Man-like proportions.

But I think senses like smell (and taste for that matter) are best left to the real world.

The post FeelReal Brings Sense of Smell To Virtual Reality appeared first on VR World.

After recent delays, Sony (NYSE: SNE) has finally pinpointed a finalized release date for the launch of their next-gen console-and-handled combo for the Chinese market.

According to a recent press release from Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia, Sony’s PlayStation 4 and PS Vita comes to China on March 20, 2015 for 2,899 RMB and 1,299 RMB respectively.

SCEJA has revealed two special edition “dragon” variants for each system to commemorate the Chinese launch, and both systems will be accompanied by the following day-one games:

PlayStation 4 Chinese Launch Titles

• DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition
• King of Wushu: Free Early Access Edition
• Knack
• Mr.Pumpkin Adventure
• Rayman Legends
• Trials Fusion

PlayStation Vita Chinese Launch Titles

• DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition
• Farming Simulator 14
• FINAL FANTASY X HD Remaster
• FINAL FANTASY X-2 HD Remaster
• One Tap Hero
• Rayman Legends
• TOUKIDEN-KIWAMI

While that current launch selection might seem lackluster, SCEJA plans to release a “steady stream” of titles to the region with the help of more than 70 third-party software development studios–26 of which are native Chinese developers.

Sony is committed to actively supporting Chinese developers to ensure the platform has a thriving and expansive library of games, so it looks like the PlayStation has a solid future within the region.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) got a head start over Sony by releasing the Xbox One last September following the Chinese government’s decision to lift the 14-year ban on consoles, and it’ll be interesting to see if Sony can assert their dominance to the new frontier that is the Chinese gaming market.

The Xbox One was first to launch in China, but can Sony win over this region as well?

But Sony’s biggest competitor won’t be Microsoft; it’ll be China’s black-market gaming sector that’s thrived over the last decade and a half thanks to the government’s tight gaming restrictions.

Although the red tape has been lifted and the PS4 and Xbox One are now legal, consumers may be hesitant to embrace the consolidated and limited entertainment options that the consoles offer and instead stick to the huge array of games available on the underground market.

Like Microsoft, Sony will also go against the mobile gaming sector, which has proven to be massively popular within the region.

Despite the hurdles, in the next few months we may see China’s gaming presence make a paradigm shift towards console gaming thanks to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as the People’s Republic of China represents a relatively new frontier for the console games market–and a new battleground for Microsoft and Sony.

The post Sony’s PS4 And PS Vita Come To China This Month appeared first on VR World.

Reports indicate that Sony (NYSE: SNE) will roll out a new firmware update for the PlayStation 4 that will add in a number of interesting new features including the long-awaited game suspend/resume function, customized controller button mapping, and more.

The info was leaked by participants of Sony’s PlayStation MVP Program who are currently beta testing the PS4 2.50 firmware update, which is currently slated for a release sometime in April.

PlayStation 4 gamers have been waiting for the resume/suspend mode since Sony announced the feature before the system’s launch, but the addition was delayed and has been anticipated ever since.

In the meantime Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) sought to one-up Sony by implementing the “Resume Game Quickly” feature for the Xbox One, effectively introducing a suspend and resume mode for the all-in-one console.

The mode is essentially like opening and closing the Nintendo 3DS and being able to easily and quickly jump back into your game without any loading or data loss.

Suspend and resume will be nestled as part of the PlayStation 4’s Rest Mode and will essentially enables users to pause their game and preserve their progress while the console is in its low-powered state.

With the custom button-mapping feature, PS4 gamers will finally be able to recreate the original Japanese face button meanings where O is confirm and X is cancel; a scheme that a lot of JRPG gamers have come to know and love.

The button mapping may be universal across all PlayStation 4 games, which is a pretty amazing addition. Then again we have reports that the custom mappings may need to be set for every game instead of being a global option (thanks justerthought!).

Plus it looks like V 2.50 will update Share Play to 60 frames-per-second along with allowing gamers to take snapshots of game scenes when trophies are earned and share them just like screenshots, similar to the Xbox One’s achievement structure.

Also the PS4 will automatically delete games at 0% trophy progresson from your list, making for easy navigation.

But there is some bad news, as you’ll need to update your PS Vita past v 3.35 in order to use Remote Play with the PS4. Let’s hope both updates arrive side-by-side or gamers won’t be able to tap into the cross-platform streaming action.

The new firemware update is looking to be quite hefty and it’s great to see that Sony is opting for a beta test this time around considering how some past updates have led to various performance issues and problems.

Hopefully the Japanese console-maker will be able to iron out all the kinks and stay on track for an April release, as it’d be nice to play Final Fantasy X HD Remaster in May with the revised button mapping controls.

Below we have a huge breakdown of what v 2.50 has to offer straight from trusted industry insider Wario64 (via Gematsu):

Main Features

• The system can now enter rest mode without closing any applications. You can adjust this setting in [Power Save Settings] > [Set Functions Available in Rest Mode].
• [Accessibility] has been added to [Settings]. You can adjust accessibility settings such as zooming and button assignments.

Trophies

• You an now delete trophies with 0% achievement progress.
• [Earned Date], [Not Earned], and [Grade] have been added as sorting options for trophies. You can also sort by [Earned Date] and [Not Earned] options when comparing trophies with other players.
• You can now search the Internet for details about trophies from the options menu in [Trophies].
• Screenshots of scenes when you earn trophies are now saved automatically. You can view saved screenshots in [Capture Gallery].
• You can now share trophy details and screenshots. Select the trophy you want to share details about in [Trophy], and then press the Share button.

Share Play

• You can now test the host’s connection speed when starting Share Play.
• You can now enjoy Share Play at 60 fps. A host in a party can adjust the setting in [Party Settings] > [Video Quality for Share Play] > [Frame Rate].
• A user who is running version 2.50 or earlier on their system cannot use Share Play with someone who is running version 2.50 beta on their system. Users who are both running system software version 2.50 beta can enjoy Share Play.

Other

• Users who are your Facebook friends can now be displayed in [Players You May Know].
• You can now send real name requests in addition to Friend requests to users who are currently not on your Friends list.
• You can now apply a shadow style for text in [Themes].
• You can now enter up to 140 characters for your self-introduction.
• If you enter 22 characters or more for your self-introduction, only 21 characters will be displayed on a PS4 system running system software version earlier than 2.50.
• You can now use the touch pad to operate playback of videos on discs.
• [Discover] has been added to introduce users to PS4 system features. You can view information about features in [Notifications] > [Discover].
• Remote Play cannot be used with a PS Vita system running version 3.35. A system software update for the PS Vita (to be released later) is required.

Source: Gematsu, @Wario64 1, 2, 3 and 4

The post New PS4 2.50 Firmware Update Brings Suspend/Resume, Custom Button Mapping appeared first on VR World.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) has recently confirmed that the Project Morpheus VR headset will require a wired connection to “ensure high-speed data transfers”.

Speaking with Gamespot at this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC 2015), President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida had some interesting things to say about the company’s new virtual reality peripheral.

According to Yoshida, Project Morpheus’ internal hardware is “pretty much done”, but the Japanese console-maker will continue to add in “lots of tweaks and improvements” before it’s ready to ship.

Earlier at GDC Sony slated an early 2016 release window for the VR headset, revealing a slew of specs and a brand new prototype to be demoed at the event.

But there’s something the prototype assets seemed to leave out: the required wire that tethers the headset to the PlayStation 4, and an extra box that will basically process the image data directly to the headset.

Although its a prototype model, this press pic doesn’t adequately portray the headset’s required direct-wired connectivity.

During the interview Yoshida state that Sony won’t be releasing a wireless flavor of Project Morpheus, stating that wired HDMI connections were a must to transfer full 1080p HD at refresh rates of 120Hz–which is responsible for that “immersive VR feel”.

Essentially a wired connection is required to maintain the headset’s reduced latency rate (less than 18 milliseconds) to keep that authentic virtual presence. If there’s too much lag, the illusion of VR breaks down entirely.

It’s worth mentioning that all VR headsets, from the Oculus Rift to the newly announced HTC Vive, will be wired to their respective sources.

Since Project Morpheus’ source is the PlayStation 4, that means an extra bit of hardware is needed to ensure the PS4’s only HDMI out slot isn’t taken up by the headset.

Sony will ship the Project Morpheus with an external “Processing Box” that attaches via HDMI and USB, and currently has its own power input, meaning things are going to get even more trip-worthy.

Yoshida says that the 1080p video signals are being sent to the headset, meaning data is being fed from the PS4 through the external processing box and out towards the headset.

Richard Marks, Sony’s Director of Research and Development, explained what the external box actually does in a recent interview with Tested at GDC 2015:

“We call it a PU, and it’s a box that takes the output from the playstation 4 and it splits it, splits it for something for the headset and something for the television.

And it does this conversion of the 120Hz output of a PS4 that something a TV can display, and it doesn’t get warped. That let’s the people in the room that are there to see what you’re seeing.”

According to Digital Foundry, the Processing Box “features a processor that runs the social screen – an external display output that takes one of the stereoscopic views, ‘undistorts’ the image, zooms into the main area of interest and beams it out via HDMI to your HDTV”.

Essentially Morpheus will need to be tethered to the console by way of this external processing box at all times in order to function, which seems to go against the sleek, stylish form factor that Sony tries to depict.

So in order to operate Project Morpheus you’re going to need an ecosystem of PlayStation products: the PlayStation Camera, the PlayStation 4 that powers it, the external processing box, and a DualShock 4 or PlayStation Move controller to interact with it.

And, of course, the VR headset itself.

One of Sony’s major tenets with Project Morpheus is a “user friendly design”, but instead of focusing on environments outside of VR, they just ensure the headset is physically comfortable to wear.

Good news is the controllers will be wireless, but they’re a modified version of the PlayStation Move free-hand peripherals which are basically Sony’s answer to the Wiimote. The DualShock 4 is also compatible with the headset if you prefer a more direct gamepad approach.

Bear in mind the recent photos of the Project Morpheus are prototypes, and they’re not finalized, so that’s probably why we aren’t seeing the dangling HDMI cord or the extra processing box in any of the photos.

While this isn’t something that will necessarily inhibit your experience with Sony’s VR hardware, it can help you better understand the logistics of the device and how to weigh your expectations before 2016.

Yoshida also had something to say about Project Morpheus’ games library. It looks like Sony is having a hard time winning over publishers to the new hardware, as AAA has its thriving home base centered on the current console and PC platforms.

The Project Morpheus looks quite sleek in this state, but it’s non-operable. The reality resembles something a little different.

“Large publishers tend to wait until there’s enough of an install base,” he said, discussing how VR is still an early gambit for most big-name publishers. To help resolve the gap, Yoshida affirms that Sony’s first-party studios are making VR-ready games for the platform.

In any case, let this be a reminder that it might be too soon to get super excited about virtual reality.

Thing are going to be messy, and there are going to be cables and peripherals everywhere–look at the Vive’s ecosystem that’s comprised of the SteamVR Lighthouse, Vive Controller, the VR headset, and the fact that you’ll need to wire it up to a PC.

And it’s likely going to be expensive, too. So tamper your expectations and save your cash, and we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction.

The post Sony: Project Morpheus VR Headset Won’t Be Wireless appeared first on VR World.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) Computer Entertainment President of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida took the stage at GDC 2015 today to unveil new details on the company’s Project Morpheus VR headset, including specifications and a 2016 release window.

“Project Morpheus will be launching as a consumer product the first half of 2016,” Sony said in a recent Tweet.

A new prototype was revealed on-stage, along with “near-finalized specs” that underlines the VR headset has very low latency that’s registered at under 18 milliseconds to increase “immersion in virtual reality”, and features new dual 5.7 inch 1920 x  1080 OLED displays with a 120 Hz refresh rate.

“Our goal with VR is to deliver a sense of presence, making the player feel as though they’ve stepped inside the world of a game. The new Project Morpheus prototype brings us closer to that goal, as it improves the visual experience and tracking accuracy, both of which are critical to achieving sense of presence.”

The prototype also sports more accurate position tracking thanks to three new LED’s for a total of nine LED’s for “robust 360 degree tracking”.

• OLED display: In exchange for the 5 inch LCD, the new Morpheus VR headset is equipped with a 5.7 inch 1920 X RGB X 1080 resolution OLED display. This new screen expands the field of view and enables low persistence, removing motion blur.

• 120hz refresh rate: The previous refresh rate spec has been doubled for this new prototype, which means games for Morpheus can be rendered at 120fps. When combined with the OLED display’s high refresh rate and the power of PS4, Morpheus is able to output amazingly smooth visuals.

• Super low latency: We know how critical low latency is to delivering a great VR experience, and we’ve reduced latency to less than 18ms, about half of what the first Morpheus prototype had. Low latency is critical to deliver a sense of presence, at the same time making the VR experience comfortable to players.

• More accurate tracking: To make positional tracking more precise, we’ve added three LEDs to the headset – one on the front and two on the side – for a total of nine LEDs to support robust 360 degree tracking.

• User-friendly design: We’ve made the Morpheus VR headset easier to put on and take off, with a single band design and quick release button. The headband supports the weight of the unit on the top of your head, so there is no pressure on your face. Other components have also been adjusted and configured to make the headset lighter, so that players do not find the headset cumbersome or uncomfortable to use.

As revealed before, Project Morpheus will be compatible with the PlayStation 4 and will feature PlayStation Move-like peripherals for wireless controller input.

It’ll be interesting to see how Project Morpheus continues to take shape throughout the months, and how Sony aims to finalize the peripheral’s design.

While VR might still be new in various ways, it looks to be the undisputed future for gaming as a whole, but Sony will have its work cut out for them when they take on big rivals in the VR sector like Valve’s and HTC’s Vive as well as the Oculus Rift.

The post Sony’s Project Morpheus VR Headset Coming First Half of 2016 appeared first on VR World.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) has just announced the free games lineup for the PS Plus March lineup, which includes a nice array of digital goodies whose varying tastes ensures there’s something for everyone.

To make up for the late reveal, Sony has included a nice listing of indies to tide us over for March’s big PS4 releases like From Software’s spiritual Dark Souls successor Bloodborne and Square Enix’s new re-mastered Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (which comes with the long-awaited FF15 Episode Duscae demo).

Below you can find a complete listing for March’s PlayStation Plus lineup, which is mostly comprised of cross-buy indies:

Oddworld New N’ Tasty (PS4)

“It’s the return of a PlayStation classic! Join Abe in this rebooted platformer that has enhanced visuals, sound, and controls. Help him free his people from a dastardly meat processing facility, and see why gamers fell in love with good ol’ Abe in the first place!”

Valiant Hearts: The Great War (PS4)

“The story of intersecting lives that suffer under the impossible duress of the first World War. Inspired by actual WWI tokens from the friends and family of the development team, this game may be colorful, but tells a dark and devastating story. Bring a box of tissues!”

Olli Olli 2: Welcome to Olliwood (PS4/PS Vita)

“Grind, kick, jump, and trick your way to a high score in the “skate-em-up” sequel to OlliOlli. Players can push their skills to the limit with a refined combo system, new modes, and more. Don’t fall!”

CounterSpy (PS4/PS3/PS Vita)

“Inspired by the Cold War, this stylish adventure tasks you with keeping the world’s superpowers in balance, all while blending covert operations and high-intensity gunplay into a colorful pastiche of gaming subterfuge.”

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (PS3)

“You are the legendary detective. Use your powers of wit and deduction to piece together several grisly cases and pass judgement on the accused. Will you live up to the legacy embodied in the name “Holmes?””

Papo and Yo (PS3)

“Papo & Yo is the story of a young boy, Quico, and his best friend, Monster. Monster is a huge beast with razor-sharp teeth, but that doesn’t scare Quico away from playing with him. Build your friendship with Monster by solving puzzles together and adventuring through a magical, surrealist world.”

Sony has once again proven that good things come to those who wait, and this batch of half-a-dozen games will help bolster game libraries of PlayStation games everywhere.

The post PS Plus March Lineup Revealed: Valiant Hearts, Oddworld New N’ Tasty And More appeared first on VR World.

Attempting to get consumers to pay a premium for high-end HDMI cables that promise better sound or picture is a scam as old as HDMI cables themselves. It has been scientifically proven that a $3.50 cable will work just as well as a $699 cable; the nature of transmission means the picture will work or won’t work at all. Now Sony (NYSE: SNE) has joined these ranks of snake oil salesmen with its SR-64HXA micro SDXC which promises better sound through lower electrical noise.

Whether the $155 card will actually produce better sound through “lower electrical noise” is a highly dubious proposition. Other factors such as the audio file’s compression, the quality of the device’s DAC, and the speakers or headphones all play a much bigger role in audio quality than what Sony claims. Also the amount of actual read time, and thus audio degeneration from electrical noise, varies from device-to-device. Buffer and read times are unlikely a constant factor across the spectrum of audio players out there, thus Sony’s ability to claim an improvement in audio quality has questionable grounds to stand on.

Is there a market for this product? Obviously Sony thinks so, or it would not have bothered producing it. However judging by a comment a Sony spokesperson made to the Wall Street Journal, even the company has doubts about its potential.

“We aren’t that sure about the product’s potential demand, but we thought some among people who are committed to great sound quality would want it,” a Sony representative is quoted as saying.

The post Sony’s ‘Premium Sound’ Memory Card is a Fantastic Scam appeared first on VR World.

Sony CEO Kaz Hirai began his tenure as CEO of Sony (TYO:6758) promising that he would strengthen the brand as a unified “One Sony”. However the last year has shown that his plans are anything but.

Last year Sony announced that it was spinning off its Vaio brand, smartphone brand as well as its television business into wholly owned subsidiaries, and now Hirai has announced that Sony’s audio and video brands are set to undergo the same treatment.

It should be noted that spinning off a business is different from selling it outright. A spun-off business operates at arms length from the original company, but is still wholly owned. In contrast, the other option is to sell the division to another party — usually a competitor or another company looking to broaden its portfolio of products.

After these spinoffs, Sony is left with three core businesses: movies, Playstation (gaming), and selling imaging sensors to the likes of Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) for smartphones. All three of these businesses have their respective challenges: Sony Pictures was the victim of a large-scale sophisticated hack last fall; the Playstation 4 has healthy sales but likely a shorter lifespan than its predecessor; Apple might pull the plug on its smartphone deal.

Sony shedding its less-profitable businesses should put it on track to profitability targets its CEO laid out. Hirai says he can bring the company back to profitability by 2018 in a big way — he’s promised $4 billion. The question is can a lighter Sony do it? Without a diverse line of businesses, if one falters there won’t be much else to protect the company from further losses.

The post What Exactly is Sony’s Business Now? appeared first on VR World.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) hasn’t given up on The Last Guardian, and has confirmed that the project is still in development.

Things looked grim for a while when it was revealed Sony failed to renew the game’s trademark with the United States Patent Office, and speculation arose that the Japanese console-maker has abandoned the project altogether.

“We can confirm that The Last Guardian is still in development,” a Sony representative told GameSpot, dispelling all rumors in one fell swoop.

Since The Last Guardian is one of the most hyped and hoped for games of our generation (besides the fabled Half Life 3 or Fallout 4), gamers across the globe were crestfallen once they found out. It looked as if this was the closing chapter in the decade-long project.

With Sony’s simple line of text, millions of gamers can breathe easy–myself included. We still don’t know when we’ll be able to set off in the fantastic journey with Trico, but at least we know that it’s still going to happen.

And it’s another good lesson in how prematurely jumping the gun on rumors and speculation can be a very erroneous practice–but if anything, gamers who had previously lost hope will have their anticipation reignited.

Believe and have faith. The Last Guardian is coming, and I think it’ll be one of the most amazing experiences that define our generation of gaming and will be well worth the wait.

The post Sony Confirms The Last Guardian Hasn’t Been Abandoned appeared first on VR World.

UPDATE: Ready At Dawn’s CTO Andrea Pessino recently told DualShockers that the studio’s internal team estimates The Order: 1886 will take up to 8-10 hours of play, with the hard mode taking at least 12 hours to beat.

Original story as follows.

The narrative-driven PS4 exclusive The Order: 1886 has come under fire in the last few days as early recipients have recorded playthroughs lasting as little as five and a half hours.

Now it’s been no secret that The Order is primarily focused on story, but until now we haven’t really been able to gauge the gameplay to cinematics ratio–and the revelations have crippled expectations just four days short of the game’s release.

This has lead to a marked crash in hype, splintering the gaming community’s initial reaction to Ready At Dawn’s historical drama.

Gamers are questioning the developer’s story-driven approach, lambasting the studio for creating a “cash grab” that’s mostly made up of cinematic scenes, QTEs and very little actual gameplay.

Mostly, though, it was all due to the fact that gamers were led to believe The Order: 1886 was an action-driven game by some of the promotional material, when it has become abundantly clear in the last few days that it’s anything but.

It’s not your typical shooter. Yes it has third-person shooter elements, but mainly the game blends cinematic storytelling with player interaction, pushing the whole idea of “cutscenes” to a new level.

The controversy all stems from a playthrough uploaded by YouTuber PlayMeThrough who actually completed The Order: 1886 in five hours. The user cited that the experience is more like an “interactive movie” than a game.

His video was circulated throughout the internet, adding even  more credence to the game having hardly any gameplay, and furthering the criticism against the studio.

PlayMeThrough also answered a number of questions in a FAQ to clarify his time spent with the game, and it looks like players can wring out an extra few hours by searching for collectibles or playing on hard mode.

• Took me a little over 5 hours on my first playthrough (including all cutscenes)

• Not much replayability. You can’t level up any skills or anything and there is no New Game+. And you cannot skip cutscenes either, so it would be the exact same experience I’m afraid. Pretty much the only side thing you can do is looking for collectibles, but that’s it. No challenges or whatever.

• It’s more of an interactive movie to me, which isn’t a bad thing. Hence the film strips.

• If you really get into finding collectibles I’m sure you can spend much more time with it. Or if you play on hard difficulty (which I wasn’t). But my best guess, based on what I have captured it’s around 1,5h-2h gameplay and rest was cutscenes. Take the first 4 chapters for example, maybe 35% of that was gameplay. Some chapters consist only of cutscenes. And often times there are these “interactive” cutscenes with QTEs where you need to press some buttons, but I wouldn’t count that as gameplay.

SPOILER WARNING: The video below contains a complete run of The Order: 1886 and will spoil major plot points.

The major concern is The Order‘s $59.99 retail price tag. Should a game that is mostly made up of cinematic scenes be priced at $64 with tax? And what does Ready At Dawn have to say to defend their game?

In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Ready At Dawn’s founder and CEO Ru Weerasuriya flat out said that the studio had no plans to discuss the length of the game before its release.

“At the end of the day, we’re not going to comment on it,” Weeraysuriya began.“We can’t stop people from writing the things they do. And we’re not going to jump at every single mistake that is made out there.”

To be fair, though, this is a pretty big situation that could end up crushing sales if left unchecked. Even still Weerasuriya argues that the games industry has always had iconic one-shot games, and that the age-old adage of quality vs. quantity is right on the mark.

“To tell you the truth, that’s something we always keep in our heads. We know people want to be entertained and have things they can play longer.

“But the industry has always had diversity. You go back 10 years, there were a lot of games that were just single-player, one time play.

“Gameplay length for me is so relative to quality. It’s just like a movie. Just because a movie is three hours long, it doesn’t make it better.”

This kind of controversy isn’t healthy for any video game, especially a console exclusive that seemed to have iffy reception from the start.

And since The Order; 1886 will go up against February’s major chart-toppers like the 3DS mega hits Majora’s Mask and Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate, and Turtle Rock’s new cross-platform shooter Evolve, this criticism will likely take a big chunk out of sales.

The idea of a stylish steampunk retelling of the 17th century history mingled with the fabled Arthurian legends sounds like an amazing premise for a game.

But story is just a part of any good game, and mechanics are essential for the foundation as well.

It’ll be interesting to see how the game fares in terms of reviews and overall reception when it’s released on Feb. 20, but things aren’t off to a good start so far.

If The Order: 1886 fails we’ll likely see fewer and fewer PS4 exclusives over the coming months simply because they’re now a gamble, but only time will tell.

The post Hype For The Order: 1886 Falters Amid Reports Of 5 Hour Playthroughs appeared first on VR World.

Online retailer Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) will be slashing prices on Sony’s (NYSE: SNE) new PlayStation TV peripheral by 50% of the list price starting tomorrow at 9am PST (12pm EST).

A sharp-eyed NeoGAF user reported their findings, and sure enough the peripheral can be found under Amazon’s “upcoming Lightning Deals” section.

The price of PlayStation TV’s are currently listed as $79 on the site, so we could see them discounted as low as $39.50, making it quite a steal. If you’ve been holding out on the device because of it’s price tag, then this is the perfect time to buy.

PlayStation TV’s are nifty little boxes that can stream PS4 games via Remote Play, but one of the big selling points is that they can play PS Vita titles via the PlayStation Network. So effectively you get a PS Vita set-top box for $40 that can play amazing handheld exclusives like Persona 4 Golden. Seems fair, right?

If that wasn’t enough, PS TV’s also support a wide range of original PlayStation One classics like just about every original Final Fantasy game and so, so much more.

Amazon hasn’t reported how many units are available, so be sure to jump into your account and be ready when the sale begins. These things are probably going to go like the proverbial hotcakes.

To help remind you when its PS TV time, we’ve created this helpful countdown timer to ensure you don’t miss out on the savings.

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Beware: here there be spoilers!

Update: It looks like another early copy holder has published a series of leaked vids that show off the first hour of The Order: 1886‘s gameplay footage. You can find a playlist of the four-part series below.

Original story as follows.

If you’re curious as to how The Order: 1886, Ready At Dawn’s steampunk take on the Arthurian legends, looks outside of a controlled environment, check below for a new batch of leaked footage.

The leak itself comes from a channel called AGB Leaked Videos, and features an off-screen recording by an Italian gamer–possibly reviewer or game tester–who records what appears to be 11 minutes of early game progress.

And since the entire thing is in Italian the leaked footage is pretty much for demonstration purposes.

The Order: 1886 has been praised for its use of superlative photorealistic graphics, and all throughout the leak the game’s impressive visual fidelity is clearly seen. Even using off-screen recording the footage shines with quality, making it one of the most beautiful-looking PlayStation 4 games on the market.

The footage further highlights The Order‘s solid narrative, which has been highly praised to deliver a unique, winding story arc that blends real historical events with its distinct fantasy line.

Amid the backdrop of techno-industrial London, the story is woven through the classic Arthurian legends of the Knights of the Table Round, harking back to ancient times for its complex narrative.

Despite its pristine graphics and strong story, reports indicate that The Order: 1886 is actually pretty short compared to other AAA games.

And nearly all of the footage is spent in conversation or exploringin the high-resolution environments.

Renown games industry insider and NeoGAF frequenter Shinob602 has been quoted saying that The Order: 1886 takes an estimated “8-10 hours to complete, 10-12 if you take your time“.

Since the game is absent of any kind of multiplayer component it looks like Ready At Dawn’s third-person story-driven shooter might be beaten by gamers the first day.

Then again, it might prove to be “just right” in terms of size, as many gamers don’t have the time to devote to grindy timesinks.

But then again there’s surely other things we’re not seeing, like the possibility of New Game+, different endings for higher difficulties, or miscellaneous exploration type activities. So it might actually have some replay value–or it might not.

Even still the game has been criticized by many as being a sort of “interactive movie”, citing its “cinematic experience” as a detrimental factor that takes away from its gameplay.

Watching the leaked footage it remains clear that The Order is indeed heavily narrative-driven, and hardcore Call of Duty gamers won’t really find this too appealing. But that isn’t always a bad thing, is it?

In any case, The Order: 1886 surely has proven its worth in the departments of story and graphics.

It seems like a different sort of game with emphasis on elements we don’t really see highlighted too much, and it’ll be interesting to see if it proves to be a breath of fresh air in an industry dominated by Call of Duty clones that emphasize instant gratification or long-winded grindfests like Destiny.

The Order: 1886 is slated to release Feb. 20, 2015 exclusively for the PlayStation 4. For more information visit the game’s official website.

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Sony (NYSE: SNE) has sold its free-to-play development studio Sony Online Entertainment to an investment management firm called Columbus Nova for an undisclosed amount, the studio recently announced.

As part of the acquisition, SOE will henceforth be known as the Daybreak Game Company, and is now “operating as an independent games developer” with a renewed focus on multplatform games.

That means renown games in SOE’s portfolio like the zombie survival sim H1Z1, MMO fantasy franchise Everquest and the strategic sci-fi war sim Planetside 2 could make the jump to Xbox platforms and even have their own mobile adaptations.

SOE (now Daybreak) acting President John Smedley is excited with the possibility of bringing these games to Xbox, taking to Twitter to share his feelings.

But what happens to the current games? Sometimes when studios are sold their IP’s are dissected and sold off in separate deals, and it’s not pretty.

Smedley also Tweeted saying that all of their games and user subscriptions won’t be affected by the acquisition. Everquest Next is still in the pipeline, and players will have all their Station Cash (although it’ll be getting a different name).

The studio affirms that “all SOE games” will be intact and “continue down their current path of development and operation”.

“So what exactly does this mean for you? It will be business as usual and all SOE games will continue on their current path of development and operation. In fact, we expect to have even more resources available to us as a result of this acquisition.

“It also means new exciting developments for our existing IP and games as we can now fully embrace the multi-platform world we are living in.”

The End Game

SOE going indie is a fantastic move for the studio. Under Sony’s control they were limited to just PlayStation and PC platforms; now they can embrace both the console and lucrative free-to-play markets.

And the best part is that gamers don’t lose in the deal either. Everyone still has their games and Daybreak says that nothing will be interrupted or affected.

Planetside 2 is still coming to the PS4, Everquest Next is in development, and all that’s changed is a new name and the chance to make games on different platforms.

Sony has lost one of its best in-house content creators, but many speculate that the sale was one of necessity. Despite having sold over 10 million PlayStation 4 consoles worldwide, the Japanese technology giant is still hurting, and it’ll be interesting to learn just how much Columbus Nova paid for the studio.

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