Hasta La Gadget!

Even as we await next generation consoles, Sony is extending the battlefield for the current generation by focusing on Brazil. In an event today it announced that for the first time it will be building PlayStation 3s locally in Manaus, a move executives stated will inject $300 million into the local economy and drive “significant” price reductions in the region. Brazilian gamers can also expect more game release support, with news that The Last of Us will have a localized version available simultaneous with the worldwide launch, and GTA V will be the first game in the series to include Brazilian Portuguese localization. That’s a major shift for the area, especially considering the PlayStation 2 (yes, that’s a 2) only officially launched in Brazil in 2009. As the company extends its “Viva Em Estado Play” marketing campaign, it will also offer a 250GB PS3 bundled with God of War: Ascension for R$1,099, and is running a contest to win the first Brazilian-built PS3.

Filed under: Gaming, HD, Sony

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Source: PlayStation.Blog Brazil

Like Punxsutawney Phil’s shadowgazing, we can rightfully expect a new Call of Duty game to be announced annually and available at the holidays. Also like our groundhog friend, the only annual questions we must ask are in the details — what is this year’s Call of Duty about, and who’s making it? It turns out that this year’s Duty development, unsurprisingly, falls on Infinity Ward’s shoulders — the folks who created the much lauded Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare — and it’s named “Call of Duty: Ghosts.” It’s arriving on a whole mess of platforms this November 6th, including Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC, but also PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox — given that we don’t know release dates for the PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox, it stands to reason that Ghosts could arrive on a different date for those platforms. It’s also likely we’ll see a handheld version on Nintendo’s 3DS made by someone other than Infinity Ward, but we’ve got no direct word on that just yet.

The “Ghosts” in the title references … well, we’re not entirely sure just yet. Previous CoD games featured a character named “Ghost” fairly prominently, though the plurality indicates a game about more than one individual. We’re holding out hope that the often overserious, dramatic tone of previous CoD games is being completely thrown out in favor of a goofy game about hunting ghosts. The bullets pass right through their ethereal form! Run for your life!

Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo

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Tired of how much your PlayStation 3 doesn’t look like a Terminator robot? Us too, especially given that hilariously mechanical new top-loading disc drive cover. Thankfully, Sony sympathizes with our plight, announcing this week that its “Metallic Gray” DualShock 3 controller for the PlayStation 3 will arrive in the United States in a few months (it’s been available in Japan for some time). On June 3rd, the controller becomes available for the standard DS3 price of $54.99, and interested parties can pre-order right this second if they so choose. Of course, we don’t anticipate a shortage when they arrive this June, but it’s always possible that a T-800 will be sent back from the future to accessorize. In which case, you pre-order folks end up looking pretty good.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Peripherals, Sony

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Via: Joystiq

Source: Sony

The Assassin’s Creed video game series — beyond its trademark murderous historical fiction — is known for arriving in annual installments. 2013 is no exception, with French publisher Ubisoft recently revealing Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, a pirate-centric next entry in the long-running franchise. Unlike last year’s game, which took players through the American Revolution as a half-British / half-Native American named Connor, AC4: Black Flag puts you in his grandfather’s swashbuckling boots as Edward Kenway of The Caribbean. Kenway’s the captain of a pirate vessel known as “The Jackdaw,” which promises a new twist in the AC series: open-world naval combat. While the last series entry teased naval combat, Black Flag is built around that gameplay; AC4 also borrows from recent Ubisoft highlight Far Cry 3, with Kenway battling sharks below water while diving for booty (a takeoff on the hunting found in that game, as well as in the last AC entry).

Of course, the conceit of the AC series has always been that you’re a modern man named Desmond Miles, a member of the ancient Assassin’s Guild, and that you’re experiencing your assassin lineage through a machine called the “Animus” in order to save the world. That story line led Desmond through a variety of eras in previous games, ending with the American Revolution in Assassin’s Creed 3. Without spoiling that game’s final moments, it’s safe to say that Desmond isn’t joining the cast in Black Flag; rather, you’re simply a modern day Templar (the long-running rivals of the assassins) searching for more secrets about the enemy. Ubisoft reps wouldn’t tell us much about how the modern day will play into the new game’s story, but did admit that it’ll play a major role.

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Love your PlayStation 3, but prefer Microsoft’s controller layout? You’ve got options, the latest being Gioteck’s GC-2 PS3 gamepad. Adopting the Xbox 360 controller layout, the GC-2 appears to do an admirable job of repositioning your thumbs, but its appeal lies in how much you’ll have to twiddle those digits. Hidden among the controller’s bevy of commonplace features (wireless connectivity, a turbo button and force feedback) is a thumbstick sensitivity toggle — allowing gamers to switch between four different levels pressure sensitivity. Hardly revolutionary, but it’s nice to know there are options when in-game settings don’t cut it. PlayStation 3 owners can pick up the GC-2 now for $40, and Gioteck says a Wii U variant will be available in April. See the full press release for yourself after the break.

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