Thanks to an interview with Sony UK headman Fergai Gara by Eurogamer and via DigitalSpy, we now know Sony will be issuing a Vita price drop in 2013.
Said Gara: “We always aim to establish price cuts. So the question is not so much if, but when. We won’t have an across the board pricedown this Christmas. But what you will see us doing is work very hard with our retail partners to add value to the product to make it more compelling.”
A date or how much of a price drop we’ll see was not specified, but I’ll be damned it that’s going to keep me from speculating!
I figure you’ll see that price drop happening around February (i.e. the one year anniversary of the launch) next year. As far as price point goes, a $50 drop down to $199.99 seems to make the most sense. I also wouldn’t be shocked to see a standard bundle with a 4 gigabyte memory card as well as a 30-day PlayStation Plus trial, especially since we’ll be seeing Plus make its way to the Vita shortly.
The timing of this announcement is curious though. Why announce before the holidays this drop is imminent, but that it specifically will come next year? If I didn’t already own a Vita, what reason would I now have to get one now over waiting until next Spring? While I agree a price drop is necessary sooner rather than later for the Vita just to move units, I fear Sony might have slightly undermined what could have been a strong holiday for the Vita, especially considering the arrival of Plus, as well as the Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty bundles that will be in stores in the coming weeks.
Let me tell you all something: as an unabashed Sony supporter, I of course love Kevin Butler. I thought that character and ad campaign were brilliant from the very first time I saw it. I love the KB character so much, this picture currently resides next to my PS3:
Look at it! With a stick!
Of course Kevin Butler is just a character, and he is portrayed with awesomeness by an actor named Jerry Lambert. Lately, I had seen Lambert in the background of a few Bridgestone Tire ads as one of the techs experimenting with new Bridgestone technology. Imagine my shock and surprise though when in one of their latest ads, Bridgestone had Lambert thoroughly enjoying a playing a video game. Problem was the game was Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii.
My first thought was disbelief. Butler is arguably the greatest Sony “mascot” since Crash Bandicoot was trespassing at Nintendo’s offices. But there he was, shilling a 5-year old kart racing game on a competing console. My second thought: someone’s getting sued over this. Turns out I was right.
As first reported on NeoGaf, Sony has filed suit against both Bridgestone and Wildcat Creek Inc, a marketing agency which Lambert is president of. To sum the suit up in short, Sony is alleging Lambert and the Butler character are so integrally tied to the PlayStation brand that seeing him in this commercial causes marketplace confusion and damages their brand, especially considering they will be releasing their own kart racer in just a few weeks, Little Big Karting, which has a pre-order bonus of a certain fictional Sony Vice President. Bridgestone has replaced the ad with a new version without Lambert, but I’m sure the damage has already been done in Sony’s eyes.
I also learned from this that apparently Lambert’s contract with Sony is done, which if true totally sucks. Like I said, the KB character is the most genius marketing the PlayStation brand has ever done, and those Sony commercials simply won’t be the same without him. That said, Sony is totally in the right to do this. The fact that my first reaction to seeing the commercial was “WTF!”, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one, shows their stance here has some merit, and they owe it to themselves to protect their brand. Both Bridgestone and Lambert should’ve used their heads a little more before filming the Wii ad and erred on the side of caution, even if they might not have technically have done anything wrong, as the commercial didn’t air until after the expiration of Lambert’s Soy contract.
If this is the end of the Kevin Butler, let’s pour one out by watching some of the best commercials starring the VP of everything.
Sony has released a couple of titles on the PlayStation Store day and date with their retail counterparts, most notably Mass Effect 3, FIFA Soccer 13, and the recently released Borderlands 2. In October, they are getting much more aggressive.
Resident Evil 6, NBA 2K13, Dishonored, Doom 3: BFG Edition, 007: Legends, Medal Of Honor: Warfighter, Need For Speed: Most Wanted, and Assassin’s Creed III will all be available on their retail release dates in the PlayStation Store. Even wilder, NBA 2K13, Dishonored, Doom 3, and Need for Speed Most Wanted will be available to PlayStation Plus members for a 10 percent discount if they pre-order any of those games.
Good for Sony to go about this the right way instead of half-assed like another company I know, but I do wonder how much traction will be seen from this. One of the reasons I’ve kept digital at arm’s length is that the consumer loses value. When you’re done with that digital copy, you can only delete it from your hard drive; it has no resale value like a retail copy would. You also lose out on options like Collector Editions or retailer pre-order bonuses (superfluous as they sometimes can be).
What do our readers think of this? Are you going to be picking up any of these games digitally?
When it was announced God of War: Ascension would contain a multiplayer component, I was very skeptical. At first sight, it looked to be simply a tacked-on mode being included to inflate the value of another God of War title, which then led me to doubt the quality of the single-player campaign. After getting to play the multiplayer mode, I’m happy to say my perception has done an about-face. God of War: Ascension’s multiplayer mode is really fun.
The mode we were able play was the basic 4 on 4 mode. The objective is similar to that of any domination mode in online shooters: your team needs to capture and hold certain hot spots on the map to earn points, and the first team to reach the goal amount wins the match. The combat works like God of War. You’re able to chain light and heavy attacks while mixing in some magic and other special abilities. You also can boost to shake off an attack, or gain the other hand by winning weapon clashes with your opponents. There’s also more ways to take out the other team. There are certain trap areas that can be activated which will spring when one of the opposition crosses over nearby areas. Unattentive players will either be roasted in a flame trap or be impaled on a floor of spikes.
Late in the match, a special item appears, in the demo it was a spear. When that shows up, it becomes a race to be the team to control is, as it potentially swings the match. For the winning team, it usually serves to salt the game. For a team trailing, it will often give them a huge boost and pull them right back into the match to set up a dramatic finish.
It’s very basic God of War gameplay, but it works really well in a multiplayer setting. There’s something extremely satisfying about beating down a fellow human player God of War style. Another thing I enjoyed was the fact that respawns only take about three seconds so you are able to get back into the match quickly. You would also think getting double-teamed by multiple foes would be a losing proposition, but much like in the single-player experience, double-teams are manageable if you use your abilities well.
The part that excited me most was the fact this is just one mode the game offers. Sony has not yet announced what the other multiplayer modes will be, but they have said there will be additional ones. The reason most niche multiplayer modes don’t work long-term is because the experience grows old quickly. Ascension’s multiplayer will hopefully be able to stand the test of time. It looks like it will also be the perfect online mode to put down for a while, but be able to jump right back into it without feeling like you’re behind the rest of the community.
God of War: Ascension releases March 12 next year. I’m looking forward to see what else Sony’s Santa Monica Studios has in store for this one, as it looks at first glance like a God of War game you’ll be able to re-visit again and again.
It’s been one of those weeks of sad news stories, and here’s another one for you guys. Sony confirmed today they have shut the doors on Studio Liverpool, the creator of the Wipeout franchise on PlayStation.
In a statement released today, Sony said:
As part of SCE Worldwide Studios, we do regular reviews to ensure that the resources we have can create and produce high quality, innovative and commercially viable projects in an increasingly competitive marketplace. As part of this process, we have reviewed and assessed all current and planned projects for the short and medium term and have decided to make some changes to our European Studios.
“It has been decided that Liverpool Studio should be closed. Liverpool Studio has been an important part of SCE Worldwide Studios since the outset of PlayStation, and have contributed greatly to PlayStation over the years. Everyone connected with Liverpool Studio, past and present, can be very proud of their achievements.
“However, it was felt that by focusing our investment plans on other Studios that are currently working on exciting new projects, we would be in a stronger position to offer the best possible content for our consumers.
“Our Liverpool Facility will continue to operate, housing a number of other vital WWSE and SCEE Departments.
“This should not take anything away from the great work WWS are doing and the incredible games and services that we have made, and continue to make, both for this coming year and further in the future.
I was incredibly sad to hear this one. I absolutely love the Wipeout franchise ever since I stumbled upon it when I first got my PSP way back when. Though the recent Wipeout 2048 was a bit lackluster on the PlayStation Vita, Wipeout HD remains one of the PlayStation Network’s largely ignored gems. It’s also frustrating that this is now the second well-known Sony studio to shut down this year following the closure of Zipper Interactive, of the SOCOM and Unit 13 series, earlier this Spring. When you have the studio portfolio Sony has, you’re bound to have to trim some cash somewhere with the company’s overall financial woes. It just sucks it had to come at the expense of two fan-favorite developers.
Sony stood up on the big stage at Gamescom in Germany today, and good God did they have a ton of news for us! Seriously, it was almost, if not more, news than they brought to E3. No running diary-esque breakdown for this one; I’ll just be giving you the announcements point-by-point, with lots of YouTube videos sprinkled in. So without further ado…
First, PlayStation Plus is getting even better than it already is. In September, the capacity for the online cloud storage is increasing from a paltry 150 MB to a full gigabyte, which is a huge addition. I know I’m already running low on space with my backups (damn you, Skyrim!), and the resulting increase will allow plenty of room for my giant FIFA and NHL save files. Also in Plus land, PlayStation Plus is (finally) coming to Vita. Details weren’t given as to what content will be given and when we can expect it with the vague promise of it coming “this year.” I wrote an editorial about what the Vita needs to be a success a couple of months ago, and getting Plus on board was a huge bullet point. Nice to see Sony agrees, and I can’t wait to see what Vita goodies we’ll be able to get . Seriously, if you aren’t subscribing to Plus yet, what are you waiting for?
On the heels of announcing a slight pushback in the PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale release date, Sony showed off the next four confirmed characters for the mascot brawler: Ratchet & Clank, Spike (of the Ape Escape series), Dante from Devil May Cry, and Sackboy (Little Big Planet). I say confirmed characters because of course eight new fighters were leaked from the beta a few weeks back, and all four of these guys were on that list. This is the first time we’ve seen them in action, however. And if you think I’m not super-stoked that R&C can call on Mr. Zurkon to lend an assist, you would be so sadly mistaken. Make sure you check out my impressions of the PSASBR beta right here. Check out all four fighters, and a new trailer, below:
A trailer was shown off for a new title called Puppeteer. The game is a 2D sidescroller with some interesting twists. For one, the whole game takes place on a stage with ever-changing sets and an audience, much like last year’s Kinect title The Gunstringer. Also, your character carries a pair of scissors he can use to cut his way through the environment and enemies. Here’s the trailer:
A new trailer was shown off for God of War: Ascension’s multiplayer mode. Also announced is an upcoming multiplayer beta for the game, which will be available first to PlayStation Plus subscribers.
Sony spoke at E3 about the eventual ability to play PSone classics on the Vita. That update will be coming on August 28. In addition, the update will add a few new Vita features, like Cross Controller, allowing you to use your Vita, and all of its unique features, as a controller for supported PS3 games. Little Big Planet 2 will be the first game to support this.
Another big Vita announcement was the Cross Buy initiative. When you buy the PS3 copy of Sony’s first party offerings, you’ll get the Vita version (if there is one) for free. Yeah. FREE. The first titles involved with this promotion will be PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, and Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault, the latter of which was confirmed to be on Vita also with this announcement. EA also came out today and said they would consider making Need for Speed Most Wanted, which is getting a Vita release as well, for this promotion. I thought we would see some sort of discount program for PS3/Vita cross titles; the fact they are bundling them for free should hopefully be a huge shot in the arm for the fledgling handheld.
A new horror-action title was announced for the PlayStation Move titles Until Dawn. The game uses the Move controller as a flashlight to guide you through the game, making it sound very Alan Wake-ish. Here’s the announce trailer:
Shown off was a new game from Sony Japan with the working title of Rain. You control a young boy running around a city trying to catch up to an invisible girl. You yourself eventually become invisible, your character outline only able to be seen when you’re being rained on. It looks fairly interesting, as you can see below. Unfortunately, since Sony’s Japanese studio is developing it, we probably won’t see it until 2015 (cue rimshot for Last Guardian joke!).
Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified was finally unveiled, its first gameplay trailer shown off. It looks…terribly bland in my opinion. The single-player campaign will shed light on the details between the two console Black Ops titles. As for multiplayer, you’ll be able to play 4v4 matches against your friends over wi-fi. But again…just watch the trailer. The title is being developed by Nihilistic Software, who was most recently responsible for the terribly pedestrian Resistance: Burning Skies, so I can’t assert a lot of confidence this will be the system seller many hoped it would.
What was more interesting was the trailer shown for Killzone: Mercenaries, the long-rumored Killzone Vita title. At first glance, this looks like a breath of fresh air for a franchise that really needed it. Naturally, since the game is on the Vita, it shows off a few of the touch controls used to perform some of the in-game actions. The game is being developed by Killzone creator Guerilla Games, and is slated for release next year.
The most interesting thing I saw from Sony’s presentation was the new game from Little Big Planet developer Media Molecule, a Vita game titled Tearaway. The character you control in the game is…well, it’s you. You actually can manipulate the game world using your “God-like” powers to alter environments by using the rear touch pad and shout enemies away with the Vita’s mic, among other abilities. Everything in the world can be made using sheets of paper. It’s exactly the sort of uniqueness I would expect to see from a studio like Media Molecule, and I’m excited to find out more information about Tearaway as it becomes available.
Whew! That was quite a bit! Keep it on VG Confab for more news from Gamescom, as we will keep bringing you all the info worth hearing about!
The ever-expanding roster for the upcoming PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale has added two more fighters, as Superbot Entertainment announced at Comic Con the inclusion of Cole McGrath and Jak & Daxter to the mascot fighting title.
Cole is the main protagonist of the InFamous series, and will be bringing his lightning and ice abilities with him to the fray. Jak & Daxter team up in PSASBR and will bring their varied weapon arsenal to the table. Here are a few clips of them in action:
Neither character announcement was much of a surprise, as both are among the most recognizable of Sony’s mascots. I enjoyed using Cole in Street Fighter x Tekken, and his mix of melee and long-range attacks look to be a good fit for me in this one.
Superbot obviously have many more characters to show off before the game releases, and look to do so in the next couple of weeks. I would expect some combination of Ratchet & Clank, Crash Bandicoot, Solid Snake, and Gabe Logan, among others. Considering Superbot has said there will be more third-party characters as well, so it will be interesting to see who else makes the cut.
PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale releases on PS3 and Vita on October 23.
Last month, Sony recruited a lot of new users to their premium PlayStation Plus service by giving away 12 free games, dubbed the “Instant Game Collection.” Sony also mentioned titles would be rotated in and out of the service to keep things fresh. Tomorrow, when the PlayStation store updates (usually around 5pm EST), we will see 3 new titles made available for the low, low price of free: Gotham City Impostors, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX, and Renegade Ops
The descriptions for each title, direct from the PlayStation Blog:
Gotham City Impostors: Previously announced as 50% off in Plus as part of the PSN Summer Sale, we’ve got a surprise for Plus members as Gotham City Impostors will be free for the month of July! Hatched from the twisted minds at Monolith Productions, Gotham City Impostors is a download-only multiplayer FPS that pits violent vigilantes (dressed up like Batman) against craven criminals (dressed up as the Joker) in open warfare on the streets of Gotham City. Since its release, there have been a ton of new additions to the game, including more customization options, thousands of player unlocks and upgrades, and more. Check out Giant Bomb’s review praising its gameplay and outstanding humor. Add this phenomenal multiplayer FPS to your collection this July – free with your PlayStation Plus membership.
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX: This edition of one of gaming’s most beloved franchises takes the series in a bold, and incredibly addictive direction. With fast-paced gameplay, countless twists on the classic Pac-Man experience, awesome head-bumping music, and crazy-good leaderboard integration, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX is a title that no gamer should miss — IGN gave it a 10 out 10! And now, with your PlayStation Plus membership, you won’t have to!
Renegade Ops: Last year’s PSN PLAY promotion introduced 4 amazing PSN games to heat up the last days of summer. Renegade Ops was one of those titles and deservedly so. The critically-acclaimed PSN game boasts 4 player co-op, destructible environments (using the Just Cause 2 engine), addictive gameplay, and lots of fun add-ons. This title will spice up your PlayStation Plus game collection with firepower on the back of co-op gameplay, and is a true must-download for all members. Check out 1up.com’s Renegade Ops review, where it scored a perfect “A” grade.
I would highly recommend, nay, implore all of you to jump on this deal, if only for Pac-Man Championship, which is an amazing title. Seriously, it’s a modernized version of the classic game with an insane amount of replay value, and it’s incredibly fun. Gotham City Impostors was also a title I had a passing interest in (Batman connection, of course), and will certainty give it a whirl. Renegade Ops I admittedly don’t know a ton about, but the reviews for it were fairly positive, and hey, it’s free!
It’s also worth noting that Virtua Fighter 5, Hard Corp: Uprising, and Zombie Apocalypse will be rotated out of the instant game collection when the update hits tomorrow, so make sure you Plus members add them to your download queue tonight before they go away. Remember, you can “purchase” the game without downloading it, and you will still have access to it even after it disappears off the Plus page.
I was awfully bummed out a few weeks ago when fighting game guru Seth Killian, a man who had a very large hand in the resurgence of the Street Fighter franchise over the past couple of years, decided it was time to leave Capcom. Imagine my excitement then when I saw this morning that Killian has been hired by Sony to be the Lead Game Designer of Santa Monica Studio’s external group.
The external group for Santa Monica works with many of Sony’s outside studios, such as thatgamecompany, known for titles such as Journey and Flower, and Fun Bits Interactive, who developed the excellent Vita game Escape Plan. Another one of those studios is SuperBot Entertainment; the very group that is developing PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale, the highly anticipated Smash Bros-esque fighting game.
To no ones surprise, All-Stars will be the very first Sony project Killian will have a direct involvement in, though in an interview with IGN, Killian did mention he was also involved in “some projects that are not yet announced.”
This is excellent news. Seth Killian was a guy who was known as being somewhat of a voice for the fans while at Capcom. I personally believe we wouldn’t have seen Capcom’s fighting game renaissance without Killian’s input, and to have him working on a game that, while I am excited for, I have some minor concerns about. Having Killian help to guide that team definitely gives me a level of reassurance about PlayStation All-Stars, and makes me very excited to see what the game will deliver when it releases this Fall. I’m also curious to see what Killian will bring to the table as far as non-fighting games are concerned. The man seems to have a keen perception of the gamers out there and what they are looking for.
As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Sony was rumored to be in the market to acquire a cloud-based gaming service. Well acquire one they did, as Sony announced today they acquired cloud-based gaming service Gaikai for the tidy sum of $380 Million.
Sony plans to use Gaikai to help create their own online cloud gaming service that will be able to stream games on to a variety of devices. Sony Computer Entertainment’s President and Group CEO Andrew House said, ”By combining Gaikai’s resources including its technological strength and engineering talent with SCE’s extensive game platform knowledge and experience, SCE will provide users with unparalleled cloud entertainment experiences.
“SCE will deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices.”
From Gaikai CEO David Perry: ”SCE has built an incredible brand with PlayStation and has earned the respect of countless millions of gamers worldwide. We’re honored to be able to help SCE rapidly harness the power of the interactive cloud and to continue to grow their ecosystem, to empower developers with new capabilities, to dramatically improve the reach of exciting content and to bring breathtaking new experiences to users worldwide.”
As I mentioned last month, it is unclear how exactly Sony will use Gaikai. Rumors have floating that Sony plans on using the service to make some of their classic titles from previous generations available on different devices, and Gaikai could certainly be used to that aim. Personally, I hope the service will be used to also stream content, like PSN games for examples, to devices like my Vita and maybe even my tablet. My thought is we won’t see the relationship bear much fruit until early next year at the soonest, but the possibilities are certainly cause for potential excitement.
