Valve is testing DualShock 4 support in Steam’s beta channel
If you never quite got the hang of Valve’s weird touch-pad laden game controller, you’re in luck: the company is testing out Steam Configuration support for the DualShock 4. Steam beta client users can now customize every button on the PlayStation 4 gamepad using the same key-mapping interface Valve uses for its own Steam Controller. This makes the more traditional gamepad compatible with every non-VR title in the Steam library — even those without native controller support.
Why choose the PlayStation 4 controller as Steam’s next officially supported gamepad? Well, it turns out the DualShock 4 and the Steam Controller have a lot in common — in addition to having a standard gamepad layout, the DualShock 4 also features a touchpad and gyro sensor that can be mapped to mouse or joystick movement. Properly configured, this means the DS4 can be used to navigate mouse-only menus and implement Splatoon-like tilt controls in first person shooters.
For now, DualShock 4 support is only available in Steam’s beta client, and even then it needs to be activated in a special menu. Still, it’s a great alternative for PC gamers that want more control options, but weren’t interested in learning how to use Valve’s official gamepad.
Source: Valve
Re-skin Kratos with the offficial PlayStation coloring book
What do you get when you mash up a coloring book for grown-ups with a wildly popular video game platform? The entirely unnecessary, but completely official PlayStation coloring book, featuring colorless artwork from some of video gaming’s most beloved franchises.
“Since the PS one first came into our homes, PlayStation has always been a symbol of quality gameplay, pushing the boundaries of entertainment,” an announcement from Sony EU says, attempting to justify the existence of Art For The Players. “One of the unique factors which has made it such an exciting platform for players is the incredible creativity and eye-wateringly good art at the heart of the games.”
So, what better way to celebrate that boundary-pushing art from games like Bloodborne, Little Big World and Uncharted than to strip it all down to nearly nothing and re-create it with even fewer colors? So, forget the PS4 Pro. And leave your PSVR headset in the box. Next time you’re looking for some PlayStation action, reach for the your PlayStation coloring book and a well-sharpened, old-fashioned set of colored pencils. At least you won’t have to worry about PSN outages.
The book is available for £9.98 from Amazon UK or you can just download and print a couple high-res pages here.
Source: Amazon UK, PlayStation Blog
Here are the first games optimized for PlayStation 4 Pro
With only a week until the PlayStation 4 Pro launches, Sony wants to make sure everyone knows exactly what they’re going to get when the powerful console arrives. The company is starting with a list of over 30 games that have been optimized to take advantage of the Pro’s 8-core x86-64 “Jaguar” AMD CPU and 4.2 teraflop AMD Radeon GPU. Some are new games, which were released with Pro assets already included, but developers of some more established titles have also worked hard to add new aesthetics and experiences.
Newer titles include Battlefield 1, Bound Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, FIFA 17, Hitman, Mafia III, Rise Of The Tomb Raider, Robinson: The Journey, Titanfall 2 and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
Also included are Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Driveclub VR, Firewatch, Helldivers, Hustle Kings, inFAMOUS First Light, inFAMOUS Second Son, Knack, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, NBA 2K17, Paragon, PlayStation VR Worlds, Ratchet & Clank, Rez Infinite and RIGS Mechanized Combat League.
The list is rounded off by Smite, Super Stardust Ultra, The Elders Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, The Elders Scrolls Online: Skyrim Special Edition, The Last Of Us Remastered, The Last Of Us: Left Behind, The Playroom VR, Tumble Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, Viking Squad, World Of Tanks and XCOM 2.
Sony says that another 45 games, including Watch Dogs 2, The Last Guardian and Final Fantasy XV, will get the same treatment by the end of the year. Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, For Honor and Sony’s own titles — Gran Turismo Sport and Horizon Zero Dawn — will, as you’d expect, all be PlayStation 4 Pro ready when they eventually come to market in 2017.
Source: Playstation Europe Blog
It looks like Sony’s 10-year-plan for the PS3 is over
Yesterday, Sony announced that MLB The Show 17 will launch on PS4 next March — but it won’t be coming to the PS3. As the previous year’s edition of the sports game was the last first-party title to come to the aging console, this probably means Sony won’t put out new content. If so, we’ve reached the end of the company’s 10-year-plan to support the system. Goodnight, sweet prince.
There’s no sign that Sony will stop giving PS3 owners free old games through PS+, but without first-party support, owners of the legacy console don’t have much to look forward to. The last third-party developers making content for the old system have quietly stopped in the last year, which is still a long time to keep content coming out after the PS4 debuted in 2013.
Back in June, Bungie stated that the next Destiny expansion coming in the fall would split character progression along two paths, preventing players from earning anything when they jump between systems. As we noted when the new content went live at the end of July, it’s likely the developer’s first step in jettisoning support for last-generation console owners. At least they’ve held out longer than Activision, which announced last year that PS3 and Xbox 360 owners would be getting neither the single-player campaign nor the fourth DLC maps for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.
As for the latest harbinger of the PS3’s end days, MLB The Show 17 will come out on March 28th, 2017. Legendary slugger Ken Griffey, Jr. will bestir the cover of the American version, though Sony hasn’t announced which players will stare out from the international covers at the dejected faces of PlayStation 3 diehards, for whom brand-new digital baseball experiences are now the stuff of memory.
Source: Playstation blog
Someone really wants ‘No Man’s Sky’ developers to apologize
The internet hivemind’s vile side was at it again this morning. This time, by apparently hacking the Twitter, Linkedin and email accounts of No Man’s Sky developer Hello Games. Buckle up because this gets messy. “No Man’s Sky was a mistake.” Following an extended period of silence from the developer, that (now deleted) tweet went out earlier today. Thinking something was afoot, Kotaku reached out to the developer via email and was told that, “No, the tweet was not a hack, but rather a disgruntled employee. The email that we sent however was official.” Except the publication had received no prior emails.
When Polygon reached out, the culture and video game site was told, by someone apparently posing as lead developer Sean Murray, that “The tweet is from me, but somebody from the team took it down. We have not been coping well.”
Both Kotaku and Polygon received the following email:
“No Man’s Sky was a mistake.
I have contacted you because the silence from Hello Games has been unwarranted and unprofessional. The community has asked me to speak up, and I have a confession to make. The game was simply unfinished upon arrival. Our hand was forced by not only Sony, but the community as well. The constant harassment and absolute gross misconduct on the community’s part has made it hard to fulfill our artistic vision, while the pressure from Sony to release the game as soon as possible forced us to cut key features. I want to apologize for what we did not deliver on, as the game does not meet up to what our artistic vision was.
However, we do wish that the community was more understanding of our situation. Many people have asked for refunds despite our promise to continually improve and update No Man’s Sky. We are just a small studio that has poured our blood, sweat, and tears into this project. The complete lack of respect when it comes to the work we have done absolutely saddens not only myself, but the team as well. We want to improve the game to the point we dreamed of it being and beyond.
I hope everyone affected understands,
Sean Murray”
And then, Murray began tweeting from his personal account that there was a server hack, chiding that the team was watching Mr. Robot episodes to help find a solution.
If anything was a mistake, it was using Linked In without 2FA.
— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) October 28, 2016
Kotaku writes that the tweets in question were sent via a linked account on your college professor’s favorite social networking site.
.@NoMansSky 100% not hacked anymore… obviously those mails and that tweet were fake. Back to work 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
— Hello Games (@hellogames) October 28, 2016
When No Man’s Sky came out this summer it was met with a heap of backlash. Players have incited investigations over false advertising, claiming the game they bought wasn’t what they’d been promised. The game’s subreddit was shuttered after its moderator calling it a “hate filled wastehole of no actual discussion.” It’s since been reopened, but the rage has metastisized into more nefarious forms like today’s hacks and campaigns to lower the game’s Steam rating. Imagine what could happen if the perpetrators put this type of effort into doing good for the world.
We’ve reached out for additional information and will update this post should it arrive.
Source: Kotaku, Polygon
Abzû’s deep sea adventure is coming to Xbox One
Abzû, the best game about exploring the depths of the ocean (sorry Ecco the Dolphin), will get a physical release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this January. It’s a beautiful and relaxing adventure, focused on a deep sea diver as he tries to learn more about the world and its complex ecology. The short, atmospheric title is already available through Steam and the PSN store; the big news, therefore, is its debut on Xbox hardware. The game was developed by Giant Squid, a new studio founded by Flower and Journey art director Matt Nava. Consequently, the art direction is stunning — if you like taking beautiful screenshots, this is the game for you.
The retail release will be priced at $19.999 and come with some exclusive goodies: a dynamic theme for PS4 and some colorful backgrounds for the Xbox One. In my opinion, it fails to hit the emotional highs of Journey — but if you like the work of ThatGameCompany, it’s still worth checking out. The music and environments alone are worth the price of admission.
Source: 505 Games
PlayStation 4 has a pair of controllers made for pro gamers
The Xbox One has the Elite gamepad to satisfy the platform’s pro gamers or people who just want a really nice gamepad. But Sony fans are stuck with a controller that’s barely changed since the Playstation 4 launched in 2013. Rather than crafting one itself, Sony has announced it’s working with the folks at Razer and Nacon to develop a pair of tournament-ready sticks.
Like the Elite pad, these sport features like extra triggers and customization, but each handles the new bits differently. The Raiju (“thunder beast”) offers trigger stops for quicker firing; extra bumper buttons; two extra, detachable triggers; custom button mapping with two onboard custom profiles, removable analog stick caps and wired connectivity via a detachable USB cable. Oh, there’s a control panel built into the controller too. Honestly, in terms of design it looks quite a bit like an Xbox One controller with the headset adapter attached.
Then there’s the Revolution from Nacon. Perhaps the biggest difference here aside from customizable weight; four button profiles and a quartet of shortcut buttons is the stick placement. The left analog stick and d-pad swap positions, so instead of the two sticks being next to each other they’re offset — like an Xbox controller. Another difference is that the sticks have 46 degrees of amplitude and are “enhanced with innovative firmware for advanced eSports accuracy and reach.” Like the Raiju, this one is wired as well.
Why? Because too many wireless signals in a given room — like at a tournament — can play havoc in the heat of the moment. Plus, running wireless adds a tiny bit of lag between your fingers and the console. With how much both of these resemble Xbox One controller, it’s kind of telling that the eSports community doesn’t particularly care for the DualShock 4’s design. The downside is that despite how good these look, they’re probably won’t fix the DualShock 4’s biggest weakness: battery life.
Price wasn’t given, but considering how much other custom controllers cost, don’t expect these to be cheap when they come out later this year in Europe.
Source: PlayStation Blog (Europe)
‘The Division’ update keeps you playing past the endgame
Ubisoft is facing the same problem with The Division that Bungie encountered with Destiny: how do you keep people playing after they’ve hit the level cap, especially when extra content only goes so far? Its solution: dangle the promise of more loot. The developer has released that promised patch to overhaul the game’s mechanics, and its centerpiece is a new World Tiers feature that increases the difficulty of enemy characters in return for greater rewards. The higher the tier, the greater the chance you’ll get items you’d want to keep. You can also accrue experience beyond the regular and Underground level caps, and Ubisoft has tweaked loot drops across the board — you’re more likely to get equipment appropriate to your level, and any enemy has a chance of dropping advanced gear.
As for those overhauled mechanics? A lot has changed, and it’s mainly for the better. There have been “many improvements” to enemy AI, and it takes less time overall to kill them. Scavenging has been removed from the game entirely, for that matter, and you now progressively heal when you’re outside of combat. Weapons and armor have seen significant rebalancing as well. To top it off, skills behave very differently — there’s no longer a cap, but you face diminishing returns the higher your skill levels get.
It’s hard to say if the update will inject new life into The Division, although it at least clears the way for the DLC that Ubisoft had delayed for the sake of the new patch. From a cursory glance, though, the update appears to tackle some of the biggest complaints with online role-playing games of all kinds, especially shooter RPGs. You not only have more reason to play past the usual endgame, but should spend less time grinding or licking your wounds.
Source: Ubisoft
Adult Swim’s latest game embraces cassette glitches
Does something look slightly off with picture you see above? Don’t worry, that’s on purpose. Adult Swim Games and Fire Face are launching the surreal puzzler Small Radios Big Televisions on November 8th for PC and PS4, and its hook is a time-traveling cassette deck that lets you “reconstruct the past” of abandoned factories through tapes. Only here, reality is just as fragile as the tapes in question — expect plenty of distortion, discoloration and other glitches that could play havoc with your head. Complete them and you’ll find retrowave tunes from Owen Deery (also available on Bandcamp) as a reward. Given Adult Swim’s solid track record with releasing off-kilter titles like Headlander and Westerado, it could be worth a try just to see how well this analog-meets-digital premise turns out.
Source: Steam, Bandcamp
‘The Last Guardian’ is finally ready
Hold tight Fumito Ueda fans, your wait is almost over. Despite that long quiet period and even a recent six-week delay, tonight Sony Interactive exec Shuhei Yoshida tweeted that The Last Guardian has gone gold. That should put it on track for release December 6th, when everyone can adventure with a giant pet companion of their own. Not counting a Tokyo Game Show near-miss, we last experienced the successor to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus during E3 2016, and found it an “incomplete opus.” Here’s hoping the extra development time was enough to make everything just right.
I’ve waited a very long time to say this… The Last Guardian has gone gold! I’m so excited for you all to finally experience it ˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖
— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) October 22, 2016
7年間お待たせしました。『人喰いの大鷲トリコ』が完成しました。12月6日にぜひお楽しみください。
— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) October 22, 2016
Source: Shuhei Yoshida (Twitter)
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