Blog Archives
PlayStation’s MLB: The Show Franchise to go Multi-Platform
Baseball has been without a major multi-platform game since 2K pulled the plug on the franchise after their 2013 game. Since then, baseball games have been limited to the PC management simulator Out Of The Park Baseball, MLB Advanced Media’s in-house developed RBI Baseball and the PlayStation-exclusive MLB: The Show.
That is soon to change. No, a new player isn’t entering the space but one is expanding. As part of an extension of their licensing agreement, Major League Baseball and Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that not only will the MLB: The Show series continue but it will be coming to multiple platforms as soon as 2021.
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PlayStation 5 Controller Revealed in Japanese Patent
One of the forgotten storylines from the current console generation was how fondly received the PlayStation 4’s controller was relative to the PS3’s DualShock 3 and the Xbox One’s effort. Sony has a big task to follow-up on their leading console controller. To do so, they’ve decided to refine rather than revolutionize with their PlayStation 5 controller.
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Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Review: The Last Crusade
Naughty Dog has a reputation for making a trilogy of games (and sometimes a racing game) for a franchise on a console generation and moving onto a new IP. They did it with Crash Bandicoot on the PS1 and Jak & Daxter on the PS2. Their PlayStation 3 trilogy was the blockbuster Uncharted franchise (along with the amazing The Last of Us). However, in their first effort on the PlayStation 4, Naughty Dog went back to Uncharted for one more adventure with Nathan Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
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Uncharted: Fortune Hunter Review: Gold on the Run
It’s not unusual to see big game franchises get mobile spin-offs as part of their lineup. Square Enix has mobile games for Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider and Hitman. Nintendo is working on a move into that sector. EA has a whole host of mobile titles too. Now, Sony is dipping its toes into the mobile sector with a puzzle game based Uncharted that’s more of a booster pack for Uncharted 4’s multiplayer than a new entry in the franchise.
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Until Dawn Review: Trope Scares
One of the alleged selling points of The Order: 1886 was that it was “cinematic” but it didn’t really feel like anything out of a movie other than the aspect ratio of the screen. To make a game that seems like a movie, you need to rely on more than just the visuals. Ready at Dawn missed that memo.
Supermassive Games didn’t miss that memo. They had last year’s PS4 exclusive that was noteworthy for all reason opposite to The Order: 1886. While Until Dawn could be called a cinematic game, it was cinematic because it was put together as a loving homage to 90s slasher and horror movies. It looked and acted the part and was all the better for it.
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Sony Teases Crash Bandicoot Again
It’s not a year at Sony Computer Entertainment if they aren’t teasing the return of one of their most iconic characters. PlayStation’s Middle East Twitter account added fuel to the never-ending fire that Crash Bandicoot is coming back to PlayStation soon.
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Sony’s “Let’s Play” Trademark Application Rejected Again
A couple of weeks ago, we brought you news that Sony Computer Entertainment of America tried and failed to trademark the term “let’s play” at the end of 2015. We noted that they had a year to appeal the ruling by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
It turns out that Sony didn’t waste any time in trying again to trademark “let’s play” but the USPTO once again refused the application.
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The Order: 1886 Review: Paint by Numbers
Launch window exclusives are a very specific type of game. They tend to focus more on showing off the potential of the hardware at the expense of doing anything particularly memorable in terms of gameplay and story. As such, these are titles that you can quickly find in the bargain bin after release. They’re neat for a little bit but soon forgotten when actual good games start coming out.
Take The Order: 1886, for example. I got it as on Black Friday 2015 for $10. It released for $60 back in… February 2015? That can’t be right. The PlayStation 4 launched in November 2013. How did something that was clearly designed as a system showcase not come out until some sixteen months after the console launched?
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Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture Review: Going Walkabout
Some people call them walking simulators. The people in marketing prefer to call it interactive storytelling. The one thing that we can all agree on is that games like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture are among the most divisive in gaming. Rapture itself has review scores ranging from 100% to 25% and is on best, worst and blandest games of 2015 lists.
I have a mixed history with walking simulators myself. While I loved The Stanley Parable, I had Gone Home figured out in about a half-hour but had to walk the experience through to the end. Where will Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture fall on the walking simulator spectrum?
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Sony Tries and Fails to Trademark “Let’s Play”
In an unusual gaming controversy, Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) applied for a trademark of the term “let’s play” back at the end of October 2015. The application was discovered by the internet over the last week. This sparked a not insignificant controversy over SCEA trying to claim ownership of a fairly common term in the gaming world.
Funnily enough, the controversy should have been over before it even started. Before the news of the copyright application broke, the US Patent and Trademark Office refused Sony’s application.
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