Noctis is still waiting on his throne… impatiently.
Will PS4 Final Fantasy Versus XIII E3 2013 news on this highly anticipated, but rarely seen, title be shown soon? E3 2013 is coming up very quickly, in June. And now, in April, we have the following quote from producer Tetsuya Nomura from a Square Enix web radio show.
Question:
“I’ve been excitedly waiting for any news regarding Final Fantasy Versus XIII. When will we be hearing more?”
Nomura:
“Any information about Final Fantasy Versus XIII is very… sensitive, even within Square Enix. We’ve been quiet about it for the past year, but the day of being able to remove its information ban has already been decided, and we’re currently preparing for that day. When that time comes, we’ll also reveal our reason for the delay of any form of announcement.”
Take that as you will, but it could mean that a major announcement will be given at the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo in June. Not only that, but the latter part of Nomura’s answer: “When that time comes, we’ll also reveal our reason for the delay of any form of announcement,” could be interpreted as a hint that the game has been moved from PS3 development (where it was announced way back in May 2006, with development starting in 2005!) to PlayStation 4… Where it will surely be a MAJOR killer-app for both Square Enix and Sony.
Will the PlayStation 4 legitimize Let’s Play youtube videos (Walkthroughs, WatchMePlay, clips, etc.) due to the system’s built-in “Sharing” feature and mainstream focus on recording video of your gameplay footage?
I think it will. There was a time where Let’s Play’s on youtube straddled the line between what was legal and what was illegal (or at least, frowned upon) to do. Even today, publisher’s can request that Let’s Plays be taken offline by google (who owns youtube) and it’s hard to argue against the game companies and publishers when their position points to the fact that showing others the entire game violates their copyright.
That’s a perfectly understandable position. However, as youtube has grown and videos of videogames and videos of people playing videogames have increased and reached near mainstream status, at the very least normalcy, it has become more and more accepted and less likely that game companies will request that your Let’s Play’s be taken offline. As long as they are not released during the early embargo period issued for said game or show say, that game’s ending.
I believe the fact that the PS4 is focusing so heavily on integrating user-made recorded videos and Let’s Plays of videogames directly into the system, and making it very easy for even a casual gamer to upload their gameplay footage and create videos with it and share them online; Will completely mainstream and legitimize Let’s Plays and user-created video walkthroughs of videogames.
Sony will literally be elevating Let’s Plays to it’s proper place as a true way to increase the awareness of their games which in turn increases the marketing and promotion and encourages others to pick the game up (increasing the community and hype for said games). Let’s Plays already serve that purpose for many gamers who cannot (yet) afford game but will live vicariously through others who have played the game as they anxiously await and count down the days until they too can dive into it themselves.
I think this is an extremely smart play by Sony and could be a real game changer in the videogame scene. Because Sony has publicly and majorly endorsed Let’s Plays as part of videogame culture, it will become much harder for videogame companies and copyright holders to argue that these Let’s Plays, video walkthroughs, clips of gaming moments and other user-created videos using their videogame products, is somehow a violation of their rights or copyright to the game. Especially if sales of PS4 games remain high. At that point, it will be nearly impossible to argue that Let’s Plays hurt sales.
In fact, and I believe that argument has already been won, it will be ridiculous to argue that people won’t still buy videogames just because they can view a video that someone else made of the entire game online.
As gamers themselves can already attest to, watching a friend, roommate, sibling, family member or stranger play through a videogame, is NOT the same as playing through the game yourself. Games take a certain amount of user-control, and every gamer will play the game slighly differently. The experience of watching someone play and playing yourself, is akin to the difference between the interactive nature of videogames compared to movies. Passive entertainment versus interactive entertainment.
I applaud Sony and I am glad that they are taking this step to legitimze and popularize Let’s Plays.
I only hope that Microsoft, Nintendo and other videogame companies (like Valve or Good Old Games/Gog.com) follow suit. And I have faith that they, eventually and soon, will.
Giant touchpad on a console controller is a first!
The Dual Shock 4 PlayStation 4 controller has been revealed and it will feature a number of new changes from previous iterations of Sony’s famous pad.
The biggest addition is the all-new Share Button, which allows you to broadcast recorded video to friends via the Internet, social networking, your PSN list, uStream, etc.
It’s so similar… Yet so different!
The other biggest change in terms of input is the all-new Touch Pad. The Touch Pad on the PS4 controller will improve playability and allow for new experiences similar to that of a touch-screen (although not as diverse naturally) or the touchpad on the back of the PS Vita. In addition to being able to interact by touching or moving your finger across the touchpad, you can also click the TouchPad in, adding another button to the controller.
Other changes include a built-in Headphone Jack so you can play using headphones quickly and easily right from your controller (AWESOME NEWS! Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?), the jack also allows you to plug a headset in for voicechat. A built-in Mono speaker is also included just like on the Wii.
Another major new feature is the Light Bar, this will light up to indicate what controller port you are plugged into (just like on the Xbox 360) but can also be used for gameplay such as to indicate low health levels, via different colored lights on the controller.
Additionally, the Light Bar can be sensed via the PlayStation Eye peripheral that comes with every PS4. And the PS Eye can track your movement using the Dual Shock 4’s Light Bar, which will work very similar to the PlayStation Move Controllers.
Other changes for the PS4 controller include: An “Options” Button finally replaces the Select and Start buttons that have existed since the original PS1 controller, and going back to the original NES/Famicon in 1983/84/85; a Micro USB port will be included much like the PS3 controller, you can use it to charge the controller (which can also be charged via a charging station or via the console, even while off); an extension port; rubber or etched plastic backing to enhance grip, Motion Control via a three-axis gyroscope and three-axis accelerometer, and improved rumble capability.
Besides the new features, the Dual Shock 4 will include all the features you expect from past PlayStation controllers: Four face-buttons (X, Circle, Triangle and Square), four shoulder buttons (L1, L2, R1, R2), Two Control Sticks (that are now concave with a hole in the center like the Xbox 360), A D-Pad (using the familiar cross unconnected cross shape) and clickable Control Sticks that represent the L3 and R3 buttons. The speaker is in the middle of the controller, with the Share Button on the upper left-hand side and the Options button on the upper-right hand side. The Touchpad is in the upper center of the controller, nearly the length of it from the end of the D-Pad to the Face Buttons.
Last but not least, the PlayStation Button (or “Home” Button as it’s called on Xbox 360) is in the center of the controller, to bring up the Main Menu, PlayStation Network, access your friends list, etc.
The Light Bar is on the top of the controller between the shoulder buttons (along with the Micro USB slot) while the Headphone jack is presumably on the bottom of the controller, where the headset jack on the Xbox 360 is.
All in all I am very pleased with the PS4 Controller and the Dual Shock 4 looks like a great upgrade to the Dual Shock 3. Speaking of which, it’s worth noting that the Dual Shock 3 Controller will NOT work with the PS4… The PS Move Controllers are supported however.
Full video of the PlayStation Meeting 2013 PS4 press conference, where Sony’s next-generation system was finally officially announced and unveiled… A ton of details were given on the system (outside of showing the actual hardware) as well as a ton of games.
The PlayStation 4 will be released this year, holiday 2013! No specific date for the system was announced, but it’s a huge piece of news to know for sure that the system is indeed coming this year in time for the Christmas season.
This puts a ton of pressure on Microsoft as well as Nintendo, as excitement builds for the next-generation Sony console that will replace the PS3. However the end of the year is still a LONG way off and a lot can happen in that amount of time. So it will be interesting to see if Sony can successfully build on all the excitement and carry it throughout the year.
The PlayStation 4 has been officially announced. It will be called the “PS4” and not “Orbis” as was the code-name for the upcoming next-generation system, which will be released this year (2013).
Details on the system will be revealed in pieces as I write articles dedicated to each part of the system, however to get all the details yourself, simply watch a replay of the PlayStation Meeting 2013 press conference that I will be posting.
It’s important to note that the actual system hardware and its design itself, was not revealed, only the controller has been revealed. We will surely see the actual hardware and what it looks like come E3 2013.
WiiU and PS4 megaton news is incoming, can Xbox 720 be far behind?
Sony’s PlayStation 4 conference, or at least that’s what people believe it will be, is scheduled for February 20th, where Sony is almost assuredly going to officially announce the PS4.
What could Nintendo possibly have up it’s sleeve? I am hoping for an all-new Metroid game, but it could be ANYTHING. We’ll just have to wait and see to find out, but let the speculation BEGIN!
So that leaves Microsoft. Nintendo is obviously trying to steal some of Sony’s PS4 thunder with this WiiU announcement… So one has to wonder when Microsoft will be ready to reveal their cards. Will they wait until E3 2013? If so, they may be able to steal the show if Nintendo and Sony have already revealed too many of their cards.
One thing is for certain, it is an interesting time to be a gamer! :D
PlayStation 4 won’t play used games, rumors say as a new anti-used game technology patent has been unveiled that will bind newly bought games to the first system they are played on. Making the discs completely unplayable on any other system.
Has Sony dropped the big one? Will this be a megaton failure of epic proportions, dooming the PS4 before it even comes out? If this patent comes to fruition, it will mean many things for consumers.
Reportedly the patent was filed last last year on December 9th 2012 by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, and will use a contactless disc tag that your console can read, that links the ID for the disc (it’s tag) to your player ID (system or system account) in order to block used games from working. The disc will only work if the two IDs, that on the disc and that on the console, match, following the initial use of the disc.
Chief among concerns if this system proves to be true, is the fact that trade-ins will no longer be possible. Borrowing games from friends will no longer be possible. Selling your games on ebay, Craigslist, or back to the store you bought it from, like GameStop even, may no longer be possible. And buying used games from retailers like GameStop will also no longer be possible.
Of course, if Sony does go down this perilous route, retailers could retaliate and refuse to stock the PS4… which would kill it off immediately; and game analyst Michael Pachter has sounded off that retailers would react exactly that way if Sony chooses to block used games from working on the PS4. Then again, Pachter is ALWAYS wrong….
However DFC Intelligence’s game analyst David Cole echoed Pachter’s thoughts on this new next-gen development, as have other analysts.
If this patent proves to be true, then big things are afoot. It has been common knowledge for a long time that publishers hate the used game industry, which is where GameStop makes the largest majority of its profit. And for years they have tried to come up with various ways to stop the trade-in industry. Nintendo sued Blockbuster back in the day to stop them from renting Nintendo (NES, Game Boy, SNES, etc.) games, but the courts ruled in Blockbuster’s favor, opening up the used games and rental industry and protecting retailers like GameStop who would go on to build much of their business on trade-ins.
However with the advent of the digital age, and the ability to download games digitally, as well as rising development costs for AAA releases, a harsh recent economy, and the huge profits of retailers like GameStop who profit off of used games, as well as the controversy over pirated videogames, the winds have been turning against the trade-in industry as far as the console manufacturers are concerned for a while now. And the popularity of Steam and the rise of digital game sales on services like PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and Nintendo Download (eShop, DSiWare, Wii Virtual Console, WiiWare) has proven that consumers ARE willing to purchase digital products even if they must sacrifice the ability to trade them back in. Often gamers will go digital simply for convenience. However there is a pretty big caveat, in that a lot of gamers will only do so if the price is right. Steam gets the price right, for other titles and publishers it has been a tougher sell.
Still, we have been here before.
Does anyone remember the PSPGo? That redesigned 2009 PSP system was DIGITAL ONLY. It was Sony’s attempt to create an all-digital console where consumers would be forced to pay the higher digital prices and would eliminate the used games market entirely. However, the PSPGo was a failure, and people continued to buy the hardcopy-supporting PSP 3000 even after the digital-only PSPGo’s release.
Sony then announced, originally, that their next-gen PS Vita system would NOT feature actual hard media and would be digital-only, just like the PSPGo. However the backlash was so enormous that Sony reversed course, and the PS Vita did launch with hardcopy games alongside digital versions, giving the consumer the CHOICE on which way they want to go.
Hopefully Sony will get the same type of backlash with this proposed patent being unveiled (although not officially announced) and Sony will not go through with it. Because if so, the PS4 is doomed. UNLESS Microsoft follows suit… then things will get VERY interesting… although not necessarily for the better.
What do you guys think of this? Sound off in the comments!
What time does E3 2012 start and what time are the E3 ’12 shows for Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony and more? The schedule is listed below!
That’s right E3 2012 IS GO!!!!!!!!!!
The show starts TODAY, in a couple hours as Microsoft officially launches their Pre-E3 2012 Press Conference! If the Xbox 720 is shown today, we will hear about it at THIS show! It starts in 2 hours, so log into Xbox Live and you can watch it on your TV! Or hit one of the links below.
After the Microsoft show we have: Electronic Arts’ EA Show, Ubisoft and Sony. Will we hear anything on the PS4? Then tomorrow is the big-daddy, the Nintendo show where the Wii U will be fully unveiled with the official lineup of launch games for Nintendo’s next-generation console that will be released this year and replace the Wii!
Exciting times folks, exciting times! Stay tuned to WatchUsPlayGames for continuous E3 2012 coverage as the show begins! GET EXCITED!
MONDAY JUNE 4TH PRE-E3 2012 PRESS CONFERENCES
All times are in Pacific Time Zone (USA)
If one of the videos cuts out on you, try the alternate. Also keep your eyes on the GameTrailers E3 2012 Show Page or watch on SpikeTV both of whom will be heavily covering the event, doing livestreams, and popping up exclusives faster than you can say DAMNNN! Ahem.
Another website that you want to keep your browser pointed to is the GameSpot E3 2012 Show page. Like in previous years, GameSpot will be doing extensive live shows ever hour on the hour for the whole length of the show where they will have new games being demoed right before your eyes! You don’t want to miss it!
Also keep your eyes on Youtube Live where you can see live events that are being streamed, including E3 2012 shows, and lots of people will be uploading E3 2012 videos to youtube as soon as they are announced and shown via live stream elsewhere! Also other publishers like Capcom, Take-Two, Konami, THQ, Atlus, etc. will also have shows, if I learn when these shows air live, I’ll update this page. So keep your browser pointed here!
Are you pumped? I know I am! Get prepared kids, its coming!
