Pacifist RPG ‘Undertale’ heading to PS4 and Vita 

If you’ve never looked at a PC as a gaming device, you might have missed one of 2015’s best, most unexpected RPG hits: Undertale. It was a quirky, independent game that billed itself as “the friendly RPG where nobody has to die,” but it was more than a pacifist adventure — it was a role playing game that made every encounter a puzzle, a joke and a moral choice. Sound like your jam? Worry not — Sony just announced at E3 that the game is coming to PlayStation 4 and PS Vita.

The game’s short trailer looks very much like the game we saw on PC, adding little more than portability (for Playstation Vita owners) and Japanese language support. Already have the game on PC? Well, there is one excuse to double dip: a PS4 / Vita collector’s edition of the game will be available from Fangamer, and will include a physical copy of the game, an illustrated booklet, the game’s soundtrack and a musical locket. Neat! The only bad news? There’s no launch date yet. Sony only promises the game will be coming “soon.”

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‘Monster Hunter World’ heads to PlayStation in early 2018

If you’re a Monster Hunter from way back, you’ll likely be excited to know that Capcom’s latest iteration, Monster Hunter World, is set to release in early 2018. The trailer came onstage at Sony’s PlayStation Live experience at E3 in Los Angeles, showing us a lush environment with reptilian monsters both large and small, plus a huge fire-breathing bird-thing that, well, shows up just in time to help the hunter get away from a big scent-carnivore. Monster Hunter World will also appear on Xbox One at the same time, with a PC release at a later date.

We haven’t had a new console version from the series since Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the Wii U in 2012. Portable versions came to Sony’s PSP and iOS in the intervening years. Monster Hunter 4, and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and Monster Hunter Generations were all released to Nintendo’s 3DS. This will be the first non-Nintendo release of a game in the series since the PlayStation 2 version of Monster Hunter 2 in 2006. Monster Hunter XX will arrive for the Nintendo Switch this year as well.

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‘Matterfall’ brings frantic sci-fi shooting to PS4 on August 15th

Wondering when you’ll get to see Matterfall, the next side-scroller from the Resogun creators at Housemarque? You won’t have to wait too long. Housemarque and Sony have revealed that Matterfall will reach the PS4 on August 15th. It’s not quite as visually luscious as the 2015 trailer suggested (that was clearly a cinematic scene meant to whet your appetite), but it still looks tantalizing if you’re a fan of Housemarque’s frantic shooters.

Effectively, it’s an amped-up take on Contra. You’re a lone warrior dodging a hail of projectiles as you both fight against and control a strange material known as Smart Matter. We can see this being extremely challenging (if Resogun is any indication), but it might also be satisfying when you finally defeat a boss or clear a level.

Matterfall is the latest game from the creators of Resogun, out this summer on PS4. https://t.co/6WGSKHicJz pic.twitter.com/iKNRYd0mwD

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 13, 2017

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Source: PlayStation (Twitter)

A new ‘Shadow of the Colossus’ HD remake is coming in 2018

PlayStation 4 users are getting a new remake of Shadow of the Colossus next year, Sony has just announced at its E3 2017 keynote. The action-adventure game originally came out in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, and then it was remastered in 2011 with “high-definition” graphics. But lots of things have changed since then, with consoles like the PS4 becoming increasingly more powerful, so you can’t blame Sony for wanting to take another stab at such a classic title. And if the first Shadow of the Colussus trailer is any indication, this remake promises to be much better than the last. There’s no specific release date yet, but at least you know it’s (hopefully) happening at some point in 2018.

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The next ‘God of War’ comes to PS4 in early 2018

When Sony teased us with a new God of War game at last year’s E3, its presentation was almost perfect. The ten minute gameplay reveal had almost everything — the return of Kratos, alive and well after the events of God of War III, a beautiful environment, thrilling combat, an epic beard and, most importantly, a strong indication of character development. Not only were we getting the Destroyer of Worlds back, but we were seeing a more human side of Kratos. The only thing missing from the reveal was a release window. A year later at E3 2017, we finally have one. God of War for PlayStation 4 will be available in early 2018.

Kratos’ next adventure might miss the holiday season, but at least we know that it’s going to have a deep, character driven story. This year’s preview showed us more of the warrior’s troubled relationship with his son — a boy he seems to have only recently taken custody of. We hear that his son thinks that Kratos thinks he’s weak and cursed, and we hear his father tell him that he needs to learn to be strong and dispassionate. At the same time, however, we see him protect his son, who speaks fondly of his mother and reminds Kratos that “not everybody is bad.”

It’s a more active role for Kratos’ son then we saw in last year’s trailer. The young boy seems more confident, more defiant and more of a conscience for his father. Even so, his encouragement to trust others more doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on the old warrior — Kratos is as violent as ever, handily bisecting enemies, gouging eyes and otherwise completely dominating his opponents with a glowing, magical axe.

The game’s father / son adventure looks good, but details are still bare. We know the two are exploring new lands, ones ruled by new gods for Kratos to presumably face down. Still, 2018 is a long way off — there’s plenty of time to speculate. Check out the trailer above and let us know what you think in the comments below.

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‘The Inpatient’ takes you into a mental asylum on PlayStation VR

It seems that Supermassive Games, the developers behind Until Dawn, has been busy lately. Not only are they delivering another social game with Hidden Agenda, they’re also working on a PlayStation VR title, The Inpatient. We still don’t know much about it, but judging from the E3 teaser, it places you inside a mental asylum where things are slightly… off. The game looks aesthetically similar to Until Dawn, but I hope it’ll be deeper than the PS VR spinoff of that title. If anything, it looks like a wonderfully creepy environment to explore within the confines of a VR headset.

New game from the creators of Until Dawn: The Inpatient. #PlayStationE3 pic.twitter.com/dyNKaJ0YEU

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 13, 2017

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‘Skyrim’ is coming to the PSVR after all

Fallout 4 isn’t the only Bethesda title getting the VR treatment. During the Sony E3 announcement on Monday, the company confirmed leaks from earlier in the week that it is also porting Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to the PSVR. Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on when the game will actually be released.

The company also revealed that Skyrim will be ported to the Nintendo Switch and, like the PSVR version, will leverage the motion controllers to reinvent the skills like lockpicking.

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PS4-exclusive ’Spider-Man’ arrives in 2018

The history of Spider-Man games is filled with highs and lows. For every Spider-Man 2 there’s a Spider-Man: Edge of Time, an initially promising but ultimately lackluster outing. Sony hopes to change that with a new Spider-Man game developed by Insomniac. We’ve known that it’s in development, but today we got a much better look through a ton of gameplay at Sony’s E3 press conference.

In a lot of ways, what Sony showed off was very reminiscent of the Batman: Arkham series of games. There’s plenty of Spider-Man stealth-attacking baddies from above, zipping from building to building with his web, and doing a bunch of fun-looking ground-based fights as well. There’s just something about the combination that really brings the Batman games to mind.

But naturally Spidey has a few custom tricks up his sleeve, as a wonderful sequence near the end of the footage showed off. His agility and speed was on full display as he escaped a collapsing crane, and the spider-sense slows things down while you’re in combat so you have time to make additional moves. Indeed, as the footage went on for longer, the game really started to set itself apart — the action started moving real quick, in a way could only happen thanks to Spider-Man.

Of course, it’s a much brighter and more comedic world, in tune with the sensibilities of Spider-Man. And you have the city of New York to play around in, though it wasn’t clear from this gameplay how much of the city you could explore.

Unfortunately, there’s no real release date yet beyond 2018, so fans will need to keep waiting to try this one out. But Sony left us with one last tease — a look at Miles Morales, who looked admiringly at the work Spider-Man did in the gameplay footage. Whether or not he’s the man behind the mask remains to be seen, though.

Catches thieves just like flies. #SpiderManPS4 pic.twitter.com/mRzLKbLxCu

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 13, 2017

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Nick Summers contributed to this story.

Polyarc’s VR game ‘Moss’ is a ‘Zelda’-esque mousey adventure

In September 2016, a trio of ex-Destiny and Halo developers raised $3.5 million in seed money from overseas developers to create a new studio, Polyarc, dedicated to making virtual reality content. We know what their first big project will be: On Sony’s PlayStation stage at E3, the company released a trailer and gave hands-on time for its upcoming VR game Moss.

The game appears to be sort of a Legend of Zelda by way of Brian Jacques, though our lady mouse hero will deal with more puzzles than swordfights, according to UploadVR. The trailer’s description notes that players will follow the adventurous Quill as she solves the mystery of an ancient magic stone and defeats fearsome enemies. Moss will be PSVR exclusive and release during the Holiday 2017 season.

Source: Polyarc (YouTube)

Waymo killed its adorable self-driving cars to focus on minivans

You know those cute Waymo cars – the ones that are the size of golf carts? Well, don’t expect to see them on the road again.

Waymo is a self-driving car company that began at Google but was recently spun off by Google’s parent company, Alphabet. The unit works on software and sensors originally developed in Google’s secret labs, but since 2015, it’s been testing fully autonomous car technology in a tiny prototype vehicle known as Firefly. Waymo even completed the “world’s first truly self-driving trip” in a Firefly just two years ago.

• What is Google Waymo and when can you expect the first cars
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But now Waymo is done driving around that version of its self-driving car. In a blog post on 12 June, Waymo said its fleet of Fireflies has been retired. Going forward, it will focus on integrating its latest technology into vehicles like the new self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivan:

“By focusing on mass-produced vehicles like the Pacifica minivan, we’ll be able to bring fully self-driving technology to more people, more quickly. The Pacifica minivans are equipped with our latest generation of custom-built radar, LiDAR and vision systems and an all-new AI compute platform, so they can see even further and sharper. They can also reach full speed (where the Firefly is limited to 25mph), and the interior is equipped with creature comforts that passengers expect in their vehicles today  —  which makes our initial fleet of 600 self-driving minivans a perfect fit for our early rider program.”

So, what does this mean?

For starters, Google’s Waymo has come a long way. It’s also obviously not interested in manufacturing self-driving cars, but rather partnering with other automakers so that third-party cars can be quipped to showcase and use Waymo’s autonomous car technology. The end goal, presumably, is to sell that technology to any automakers that are interested. But that’s just speculation for now.

Although you will no longer see Fireflies out and about, Waymo said you can see a couple Fireflies on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA and the Design Museum in London.

Waymo