Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve all seen the demo, but none of us have actually played Destiny, Bungie and publisher Activision’s forthcoming first-person-shooter / MMO-like effort. But starting today, Destiny‘s persistent open world will begin opening up… to gamers that buy in early, that is. A limited amount of pre-orders placed now at select retailers will garner gamers beta access to Destiny, which is scheduled to launch early next year on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. If you happened to jump the gun and plunk down for a copy before today, don’t worry, as your order automatically reserves you a spot for the beta. Depending on your method of purchase, redemption codes will either be emailed directly or printed out at the time of purchase, so hold off on trashing those receipts. You can find the full details of the program and a new trailer just after the break.

Filed under: Gaming, Sony, Microsoft

Comments

Source: Destiny Beta

Microsoft’s Albert Penello confirmed to Gamespot at the Tokyo Game Show that the Xbox One’s HDMI input would work with any device, including its rival the PlayStation 4, but that’s not the whole story. In a forum post on NeoGAF, Penello expands on the quote by mentioning it “won’t be a great experience”, citing HDMI latency affecting interactive content, and adds that he indicated as much in his original response to the question. He’s still traveling and promised more details later, but it’s easy to fill in the blanks on how the console is intended to be used. While it can work as an HDMI passthrough for any device, the process introduces some additional lag. That’s fine for audio/video because it will still be in sync, but not so great if you’re playing games .

The Xbox One is designed for placement between the cable / satellite TV box (assuming owners want to use the overlay features or control with Kinect, and have pay-TV service) and wherever it’s going, whether into a receiver or directly into the TV. You can plug anything else into it, like a PS4 or even an Xbox 360, but just because you can doesn’t always mean you should.

Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft

Comments

Source: NeoGAF

Back at Gamescom 2013, Sony made it known that select cross-generational games, like Call of Duty: Ghosts, purchased for the PlayStation 3 would be upgradeable for its forthcoming PS4. At the time, Sony kept general pricing details for the program under wraps, although Activision did announce its qualifying CoD title would set PS4 users back $10 bucks for the next-gen upgrade privilege. Now, Sony’s coming clean with the full spate of its limited run upgrade program, adding Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, Battlefield 4 and Watch Dogs to the list — all for $10.

So how does it work? Well, for those gamers that insist on purchasing a physical copy of any of the above games, they’ll receive a redeemable pack-in code which they can enter into the PlayStation Network for a digital copy of the PS4 version. That’s not all though. In order to unlock that next-gen copy, the physical disc has to be in the console to activate it. The process is much simpler for those that opt for the all-digital route, as a PS3 purchase made on PSN will automatically qualify gamers for the discount, at which point the game will be available for download. You have to hand it Sony: with news of this expanded upgrade program and the PS4’s Gaikai-powered PS3 backwards compatibility, it seems the company’s well learned from the lessons of the previous gen’s past.

Filed under: Gaming, HD, Sony

Comments

Source: PlayStation Blog

Ambition? Sony’s got that. The company just announced during its Tokyo Game Show keynote that it plans to sell a solid five million PlayStation 4 consoles by the end of the fiscal year. It’s a bold enough goal on its own, but doubly so when one considers the bomb the company dropped last week: the PS4 won’t even launch in Japan until February. To put that number into perspective, Nintendo’s floundering Wii U only sold slightly more than half of that much during its own launch window. Perhaps a better comparison would be the sales of its own predecessor, the PlayStation 3, which didn’t reach the five million mark until almost a year after launch. Although five million is little more than a drop in the pond for the kind of numbers Sony undoubtedly expects to sell over the next several years, it could give the company a competitive edge over its competition.

Update: We caught up with Sony’s Andrew House after the keynote, who clarified that the five million sales goal was for the fiscal year, ending in March.

Check out all our Tokyo Game Show 2013 coverage right here at our hub!

Filed under: Gaming, HD, Sony

Comments

Late last night / very early this morning, Sony’s PlayStation team finally unveiled a release date for the PlayStation 4 in Japan: February 22, 2014. That’s just short of 100 days after the company’s new game console launches in the US, and nearly as far away from the console’s arrival on European shores — a far cry from the PlayStation 3’s launch strategy, which put the console in Japanese gamers’ hands first.

Instead, Sony’s got another idea for Japanese gamers this holiday in the PlayStation Vita TV. The $100 set-top Vita hooks up to televisions and functions as a Vita does, albeit with a DualShock 3 paired for control. It’ll even act as a Remote Play device for the PlayStation 4 when that console eventually launches in Japan. Unlike some Japan-only PlayStation hardware from Sony’s past (PS3’s Torne DVR device, for instance), Vita TV seems bound for an international release.

In Sony’s official PR, the company says, “PS Vita TV will be available first in Japan prior to any other regions, on November 14, 2013.” Prior to any other regions, eh? PlayStation’s US counterparts are keeping coy. We asked if the console was being considered for release in North America and were told, “We are considering every opportunity, but have nothing to announce at this time,” by an SCEA rep.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Software, HD, Sony

Comments