Tag: PlayStation

The comic origins of every single Spider-Man 2 costume

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Much like its 2018 predecessor, Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 includes a host of costumes for both Peter Parker and his teenage counterpart Miles Morales — more than 60 confirmed so far, each with its own special abilities.

You would think a guy as well-dressed as Spider-Man might quit while he’s ahead, but no: If there’s one thing we know about the web-spinner, it’s that he loves nothing more than changing costumes as frequently and fabulously as a Super Bowl halftime show. Some of the game’s suits are original, some harken back to Spider-Man’s history in comics and other media, and all of them range from cool, to iconic, to downright quizzical.

In the interest of our educated readership, Polygon is providing you with this reference guide to the many outfits of Spider-Man 2, along with handy background on the stories and moments that inspired them.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for all suits in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. If you’re the kind of player who wants to be surprised by the costumes and abilities you’ll encounter, consider yourself warned. If you want to know how to get them in the game, read our guide to unlocking all the suits in Spider-Man 2.]

The Amazing Fashions of Peter Parker

Advanced Suit and Advanced Suit 2.0

Five years after the debut of Insomniac’s first Spider-Man game, the default Spider-Man costume (a higher-tech, armor-textured variation on the classic comic book design) has become an institution in itself. For their sequel, Insomniac has upgraded the look and technology of the costume ever so slightly, giving it a brighter, slimmer, and more streamlined appearance.

Amazing and Amazing 2 Suit

Both of these costumes are adapted from the suits Andrew Garfield wore in the two Amazing Spider-Man movies. While the first is a fairly dramatic departure from the standard Spidey style that leans heavily into texturing and rubbery realism, its later replacement hews much closer to the look and feel of Peter’s usual threads.

Anti-Ock Suit

A rerun from the previous game, the Anti-Ock suit is specially designed (and aptly named) to combat Doctor Octopus, whose tentacles Peter realizes can be controlled by the neural interface he himself designed. In other words, you can shut down his arms, and slap the Doc silly.

Anti-Venom Suit

Designed by artist John Romita, Jr. and created by writer Dan Slott for Marvel Comics in 2008, Anti-Venom is what happens when an alien symbiote receives the touch of Mr. Negative, turning its colors in reverse, and giving it appropriately toxic effects against other symbiote enemies. In the original comics, it was OG Venom Eddie Brock who took on the new identity; here, it’s Peter himself who receives the dubious gift.

Arachknight Suit

A mashup of Spider-Man and the slightly-unhinged-multiple-identity-hero Moon Knight, the Arachknight was a goofy product of the 2018 Infinity Warp comic event, which imagined a variety of offbeat alternate universes that played Madlibs with Marvel characters. The design and ethos, by Spider-artist Humberto Ramos, has been ported over to the game this time around.

Black and Gold Suit

First appearing in the game Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, this variation on the Stark suit is a bulkier, clunker, and more fully equipped tech suit for Peter.

Classic Black Suit/Black Suit

Designed by artist Mike Zeck way back in 1984’s Secret Wars comic book event, this look has become a staple for the Spider-Man mythos, being the distinctive look of the alien symbiote that becomes Peter’s erstwhile replacement outfit. In Spider-Man 2, what begins as (apparently) a simple suit of black threads gradually takes on more powerful and alarming implications depending on the jerkiness of Peter’s behavior, which activates his latent symbiote tendencies.

Classic Suit

An icon. A legend. A Steve Ditko original. Accept no substitutes.

Homemade Suit

Also appearing in the previous Insomniac game, this sweatshirt-based ensemble is modeled on the initial costume worn by Tom Holland in the MCU’s Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming. As the name implies, it’s a thrown-together dry run Peter creates before he gets access to his real-deal Spider-Man outfit.

Hybrid Suit

Image: Insomniac Games/Sony Entertainment

Another MCU-inspired design, this one hails from 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. Built using nanites from Doc Ock’s tentacles, it’s among the higher-tech variations of the various Peter costumes.

Into the Spider-Verse Noir Suit

Image: Insomniac Games/Sony Entertainment

Based initially on Marco Djurdjevic’s design for the comics, this is the suit of the alternate-reality Spider-Man who lives in a shadowed world of dingy streets, femmes fatale, and mysteries within mysteries. The particular design seen here is the sleeker, hatted variation used in 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse animated film.

Iron Spider Suit/Iron Spider Armor Suit

Designed by artist and Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada for the 2007 Civil War comic series, the Iron Spider was Peter’s very first Stark-designed and weaponized tech suit, which he wore before running afoul of Stark and his cronies in the aforementioned series. The costume has since been seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and various cartoon adaptations, before appearing in both of the Insomniac games as an unlockable suit.

Kumo Suit

The Japanese word for “spider,” this suit has an appropriately ninja-esque vibe, and is original to this Insomniac sequel.

Last Hunt Suit

Here we have Peter cosplaying as his nemesis Kraven the Hunter, whose Steve Ditko-designed suit is refashioned into gold-plated, leather-pants-ed, and fur-stole-ed fabulousness. Sadly, laser nipples are not included.

Life Story Suit

The 2019 comic series Spider-Man: Life Story imagined the career of Spider-Man as if it were told in real-time, with Peter aging and progressing through the decades since his debut in 1962. This suit, one of several appearing in that mini, was designed especially for space-themed adventures, which explains the astronaut headgear.

New Blue Suit

It’s new. It’s blue. It’s got a spider emblem in a tiny little circle on the chest. What more does anyone need?

New Red and Blue Suit

Obviously modeled closely on the classic design, this variation sports a shinier and more textured look, and has a spider-emblem reminiscent of the MCU design worn in the earlier Tom Holland films.

Saving Lives Suit

With its purple highlights and angular eyes, this suit has a look reminiscent of the John Romita-designed Prowler costume, which first made its debut in the comics way back in 1969.

Scarlet III Suit

A comic-inspired costume, this was actually the second Scarlet Spider outfit worn by spider-clone Ben Reilly. Its debut in 2017 proved so unpopular with fans that it was rapidly phased out and replaced with…

Scarlet Spider Suit

…this bad boy. A homespun outfit fashioned out of a hoodie, this extremely ’90s bit of comic ridiculousness was likely, in turn, the inspiration for the MCU’s Homemade Suit, discussed above.

Secret Wars: Civil War Suit

The 2015 Secret Wars comic event saw the villain Dr. Doom create a reality called Battleworld, where various permutations of the Marvel Universe existed side by side, most of them a riff on a past storyline. One such warzone saw the Marvel heroes in a perpetual state of Tony Stark-fueled destruction, and this Leinil Francis Yu-designed Spider-Man suit saw its debut there.

Spider-Man 2099 Suit

Here we have the suit of Miguel O’Hara, the surly Spider-Man of the year 2099, who first appeared in 1993’s Spider-Man 2099 in a costume designed by Rick Leonardi. The costume’s distinctive arm spikes and retractable spider-claws reflect the kind of edgy attitude for which O’Hara himself was known.

Spider-Punk Suit

This comic-inspired suit was the work of artist Olivier Coipel, who designed the British punk rock Spider-Man for 2015’s Spider-Verse event. A variation of the look recently appeared in animated form in this year’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse film.

Stealth Suit

This black, be-shadowed stalking outfit is actually inspired by the original, trench-coat-free version of the Spider-Man: Noir costume from the comics. It appeared previously as a free suit in Insomniac’s first Spider-Man game, and makes a return to the gamerverse here.

Superior Suit

Image: Insomniac Games/Sony Entertainment

The distinctive, black-highlighted outfit of Otto Octavius, worn first during the period in the comics when he forcibly inhabited the body of the seemingly dead Peter Parker. Among other features, Otto equipped his costume with his characteristic metal tentacles, not depicted here.

Upgraded Suit/Upgraded Classic Suit

These costumes are adapted from those worn by Tom Holland in the MCU’s Spider-Man films. The classic blue version appeared as the hero’s Stark-designed outfit in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, while the black variation replaced it beginning with Spider-Man: Far From Home two years later.

Webbed Suit/Webbed Black Suit

These are the costumes worn by Toby Maguire in the Sam Raimi-directed film trilogy that launched Spidey’s big-screen career in 2002. A more realistically textured version of the standard suit, with raised, metallic web lines instead of sewn-in fabric, it comes in both standard and symbiote varieties.

The Ultimate Looks of Miles Morales

Upgraded Suit

Hewing very close to the classic design, this is Miles’ default costume for most of Spider-Man 2. It makes its debut in video games or anywhere else for the first time here.

10th Anniversary Suit

In 2021, a decade after Miles Morales debuted in the comics, Marvel commissioned artist Chase Conley to design a new suit for the character. Distinctive for its turtlenecked sweatshirt, dangling drawstring cords, and neon pink highlights, it didn’t last long before giving way to Miles’ older and more classic look.

Absolute Carnage Suit

A product of the 2019 Absolute Carnage comic event, this costume is what happens when the Miles Morales outfit is transmogrified into the sociopathic Carnage symbiote. Buyer beware.

Into the Spider-Verse Suit/Across the Spider-Verse Suit

Modeled closely on his comic book design, these versions of Miles’ suit were worn in the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie, and its 2023 sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse movie. Unlike its comic counterpart, it’s a more streamlined outfit that removes the red web lines, and replaces the stylized spider-emblem with a graffiti-inspired circular design.

Advanced Tech Suit

Inspired by the design of Peter’s Iron Spider suit, but with the armored fabric of the Anti-Ock Suit, this is Miles’ version of the high-tech battle outfits Peter sometimes sports. It previously appeared in the original Marvel’s Spider-Man game.

Agent of SHIELD Suit

In 2014, following the events of the Cataclysm crossover, the comic book Miles Morales enlisted as an agent of super-spy agency SHIELD (Strategic Homeland Acronym Invention Agency, true believer!). Wearing a version of their blue military-esque uniforms but with a Spider-Man flavor to hide his secret ID, this is a variation on the costume Miles briefly trotted out.

Best There Is Suit

Sometimes Spider-Man likes to take himself seriously. Other times, he likes to cosplay as Wolverine in a zipper hoodie and Doc Martens. This is an instance of the latter.

Bodega Cat Suit

The breakout character of 2020’s Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was, of course, Bodega Cat, whose legacy remains now and forever untarnished. This suit, unlocked after completing the Cat’s Pyjamas story campaign in that game, returns for an encore appearance here.

Boricua Suit

This Puerto Rican flag-inspired costume appears in honor of Miles’ identity as a proud Nuyorican.

Brooklyn 2099 Suit

Resembling both the Miguel O’Hara 2099 suit, and the Miles Morales variation seen in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, this version features baggy pants and narrower red eyes, which are (as we all know) the hallmarks of NYC’s greatest borough in the far-off ‘90s of this century.

City Sounds Suit

This fedora-topped, sweatered outfit resembles the hottest looks of the 1920s Jazz Age. It’s Miles Morales for the Louis Armstrong set.

Classic Suit

Designed by artist Sara Pichelli in 2011, Miles’ default costume evokes the classic Peter Park look without replicating it entirely, replacing its blue highlights with red-on-black webbing. In the decade since then, it’s become as much a classic as the Ditko original that inspired it.

Crimson Cowl Suit

An homage to the comics villain the Crimson Cowl, who appeared in the Thunderbolts series with a Scarlet-Witch-esque designed by artist Mark Bagley, the look also pays homage to the hooded Scarlet Spider design (also by Bagley) mentioned above. It previously appeared in the Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales game in 2020.

Dark Ages Suit

Marvel Comics’ 2021 Dark Ages crossover imagined one of those dystopian futures of which comic creators are always so fond, in which all the heroes’ hopes and dreams have gone sour, and only the most tough and brutal remain standing. Miles’ costume for that series, designed by artist Iban Coello, is a symbiote-covered bit of leathery madness.

Evolved Suit

With its visible hair, sweet sneakers, and bright blue highlights, this new look is surprisingly appealing for both superhero action and default casual wear.

Family Business Suit

Another armored suit strongly reminiscent of the Iron Spider design, whose influence continues to make itself felt throughout the Insomniac universe.

Forever Suit

This new costume designed for Spider-Man 2 has a Wakanda-inflected design, complete with panther ears and a pointed nose. Cats and spiders living together? Now I’ve seen everything.

Great Responsibility Suit

Given as a gift to Miles by Peter Parker to acknowledge the younger hero’s risk-taking and courage to save innocent lives, this suit previously appeared in the Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales game, where its Parker-resembling look preceded the classic Miles costume.

Homemade Suit

As with Peter’s sweatshirt-based equivalent, this was Miles’ very first costume from his video game debut, fashioned at home a the outset of his superhero career.

Into the Spider-Verse Spider-Boy Suit

Miles’s first costume in the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie was a cobbled-up concoction made from a store-bought Spider-Man outfit, sneakers, and a towel cape. A fine Halloween idea if I ever saw one.

King in Black Suit

Continuing from 2018’s comic book Absolute Carnage event, the King in Black crossover revolves around an invasion of Earth led by Knull, the titular King in Black, and dark god of the symbiotes. The symbiote suit worn by Miles for that series was the spiky horror-show with its distinctive forehead spiral, seen here.

Life Story Suit

As with the Peter Parker version seen above, this is a space-fitted astronaut suit modeled for the game from the Spider-Man: Life Story series, in Miles Morales colors this time around.

Miles Morales 2020 Suit

Returning from the Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales game, this update of the classic Miles suit is, apparently, fit for a kid of the current decade. Because what says the 2020s if not large Walkman headphones and rolled-up jacket sleeves?

Miles Morales 2099

Another variation on the surprisingly influential Spider-Man 2099 design, this one uses Miguel O’Hara’s emblem on a hooded black bodysuit for a futuristic but youthful feel.

Most Dangerous Game Suit

Miles’ own variation on Kraven the Hunter’s absurd but glorious style is the thing to wear when you’re seeking the only prey worth stalking: Spider-Man.

Programmable Matter Suit

Returning from the previous Miles Morales game, this glowing, armor-paneled design is strongly inspired by the various Iron Man suits, whose Stark tech led to many of the Spider-Man costumes on display here.

Purple Reign Suit

A prince pun! But also inspired by the purple color scheme of the Prowler, of course, who gifted it to Miles in the previous Spider-Man: Miles Morales game. It comes with both claw-tipped fingers and a utility belt, making it a versatile costume for the cat burglar in all of us.

Shadow-Spider Suit

Designed by comic artist Sean Izaakse for the Champions series in 2018, this was the costume of an alternate-reality Miles Morales, whose dark path to avenge the death of Peter Parker follows a very different course from the Miles we know. It makes its video game debut in Spider-Man 2.

Smoke and Mirrors Suit

It’s Miles by way of the villain Mysterio – specifically the version of that nemesis who appeared, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, in the Spider-Man: Far From Home film. It’s green, purple, and has a glass headpiece so you can pull off all the magic tricks your heart might desire.

Sportswear Suit

Miles’ very first suit in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, it features not only a hoodie, but a hoodie and a puffy jacket. Perfect for those Brooklyn winters.

STRIKE Suit

Sometimes your mission calls for a popped collar and oversized gauntlets, and nothing else will do. The STRIKE Suit provides.

The End Suit

Adapted from the 2020 comic Miles Morales: The End, this suit (designed by Damion Scott) was worn by an aged and battered Miles Morales as he made a last stand for humankind in the Brooklyn of the future. While the hooded sweatshirt evokes his youthful past, black camo pants speak to the worst of all possible things to come.

TRACK Suit

What’s white, black, red, and absolutely stylish? This newly debuted look for Miles Morales, baby.

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Zach Rabiroff

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October 19, 2023
PS5 Slim Is A Lot Smaller Than We Thought

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Image: Sony / Kotaku / timnewman (Getty Images)

Earlier this week, Sony officially revealed the smaller and sleeker PlayStation 5 “slim.” Sure, the console looks a hell of a lot thinner than its gargantuan predecessor, but the PS5 slim’s white void-ass production shot doesn’t do gamers any favors in guesstimating exactly how much space they’d save by purchasing the new console when it launches in November. Luckily, a helpful Reddit user made a mock side-by-side comparison of the PS5 and the PS5 slim to better illustrate just how small it is.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

On Wednesday, Reddit user NatureCertain posted an image gallery to the r/PlayStation subreddit that uses 3D models to compare the two PS5 “slim” models to the original disc-playing PS5. Going off NatureCertain’s mock-up, both PS5 slim models are considerably smaller than the OG PS5. Here, take a look for yourself.

Screenshot: Kotaku / NatureCertain

There are several more renders at the link.

Read More: Sony Raising Price Of All-Digital PS5 By $50

Prior to NatureCertain’s very helpful post, all prospective PS5 slim owners had to go off of on regarding the new console’s size was, Sony’s announcement blog post, which, toward its butt-end, divulged that the digital-only and disc drive versions are respectively 358 × 96 × 216mm and 358 × 80 × 216mm. But gamers are visual learners, Sony. Would it have been so hard to provide some sort of visual aid comparing the PS5 slim to the OG for scale?

One shortcoming of NatureCertain’s 3D mock-up is that it omitted a side-by-side comparison of the PS5 slim with its disc-less predecessor, as well as an image of the upcoming console with its vertical stand attached for scale. That reminds me: If you were wanting to prop your PS5 slim up in the cool and correct upright position, it’ll cost you another $30 because Sony is selling the vertical stand separately. Sheesh.

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Isaiah Colbert

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October 13, 2023
PS5 Finally Gets Cloud Gaming Later This Month
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Image: Insomniac Games / Sony
Sony’s cloud gaming efforts are starting to ramp up. PS Plus subscribers will be able to start streaming big-name games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and the Resident Evil 4 remake directly to their PlayStation 5s in the coming weeks. The company also hints that PS5 cloud gaming might be coming to other devices, like smartphones, at some point in the future.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

“Starting this month, we will begin launching cloud streaming access for supported PS5 digital titles within the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog and Game Trials, as well as supported titles in the PS5 game library that PlayStation Plus Premium members own,” the company wrote over on the PlayStation Blog today. This new feature goes live in North America around October 30, and will be exclusive to the Premium tier of PlayStation Plus, which is now $18 a month or $160 a year (Sony raised the price last month).

Though remote play, which allows PS5 owners to stream games from their console to smartphones and PCs, has been around for a while, this new cloud gaming feature will let paying subscribers stream games to their PS5s from Sony’s servers and play them without downloading. Here are some of the games Sony said will support cloud gaming at launch, with more being added later on:

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Horizon Forbidden West

Ghost of Tsushima

Mortal Kombat 11

Saints Row IV

Resident Evil 4

Dead Island 2

Genshin Impact

Fall Guys

Fortnite

Game trials will also be available to stream, including Hogwarts Legacy, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and The Callisto Protocol. Streamed games will support resolutions ranging from 720p up to 4K, as well as 60fps and HDR output where applicable. Players can also take screenshots and record video clips up to three minutes long.

While the quality of game streaming still varies a lot, especially based on the speed of your home internet, it can be a major convenience when it comes to trying games out before starting a lengthy install process or quickly dipping into a live-service game like Destiny 2 to finish a daily or weekly challenge. As blockbuster game file sizes have ballooned to over 100GB, juggling installs has become an annoying minigame in and of itself. Cloud streaming is one way to alleviate some of the frustration.

Cloud gaming of most of the Game Pass library has been widely available on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One for years now, and competing services like Nvidia’s GeForce Now provide the same functionality on PC. It’s nice to see Sony finally catching up in that regard. As The Verge reported earlier this year, the company’s job listings point to a major new push to invest in and grow its cloud gaming capabilities. PS5 owners appear to finally be seeing some of the benefit of that.
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Ethan Gach

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October 11, 2023
PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan Is Retiring

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The head of PlayStation is stepping down, Sony announced in a press release today. Jim Ryan, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s CEO, is retiring after just four years on the job. The massive shakeup in leadership comes as the PlayStation 5 breaks sales records and as Sony has doubled-down on prestige blockbuster games like The Last of Us Part 1 and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

“After 30 years, I have made the decision to retire from SIE in March 2024,” Ryan said in a statement. “I’ve relished the opportunity to have a job I love in a very special company, working with great people and incredible partners. But I’ve found it increasingly difficult to reconcile living in Europe and working in North America.”

Ryan will officially leave the position in April, 2024. Hiroki Totoki, Sony Group Corporation President, COO and CFO, will help with the transition and take on the role of interim CEO of PlayStation once Ryan leaves, and will help with the search for his successor. The news was first reported by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier.

A 30-year veteran of Sony, Ryan was promoted to the top PlayStation job in 2019 after a re-organization saw head of CEO of Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden, step down, and President of Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, transition into a more background role working with indie game developers.

As head of PlayStation, Ryan oversaw the launch of the PS5, which despite pandemic-era shortages, is now on pace to break sales records thanks to an ongoing lineup of first-party exclusive blockbusters like Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarök. His tenure also included the launch of PS VR2, as well as a major pivot by the subscription service PS Plus to more directly compete with Xbox Game Pass’ Netflix-like library of games.

The unexpected departure comes just a couple months after Sony signed a 10-year agreement with Microsoft to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the tech giant’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Despite a vicious regulatory fight in the U.S. with the Federal Trade Commission and in the UK with the Competition and Markets Authority, both of which included testimony by Ryan, the historic deal is likely set to close beginning in October.

Here’s the full press release:

Sony Group Corporation and Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) today announced that SIE President and CEO Jim Ryan has made the decision to retire in March 2024 after almost thirty years with the PlayStation business. To support Mr. Ryan in his transition, Sony Group Corporation President, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki will assume the role of Chairman of SIE effective October 2023. Effective April 1, 2024, Mr. Totoki will be appointed Interim CEO of SIE while he continues his current role at Sony Group Corporation. Mr. Totoki will work closely with Sony Group Corporation Chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida and the management team of SIE to help define the next chapter of PlayStation’s future, including the succession of the SIE CEO role.

Jim Ryan joined Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Europe-based legal entity, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe (SIEE) — which was then Sony Computer Entertainment Europe — in 1994. Since then, he has held a number of senior positions at the company including President of SIEE, Head of Global Sales and Marketing at SIE and Deputy President of SIE since January 2018, before being appointed SIE President and CEO.

Comment from Kenichiro Yoshida

“Jim Ryan has been an inspirational leader throughout his entire period with us, but never more so than in overseeing the launch of PlayStation 5 in the midst of the global COVID pandemic. That extraordinary achievement made by the entire SIE team has been steadily built on and PlayStation 5 is on track to become SIE’s most successful console yet. I’m immensely grateful to Jim for all his achievements. Respecting Jim’s decision to finish his long career at Sony leaves me with an important decision regarding his succession given the significance of the Game & Network Services business. We have discussed intensively and have determined the new management structure. We aim to achieve Sony Group’s further evolution and growth through bringing even greater success to the Game & Network Services Business.”

Comment from Jim Ryan

“After 30 years, I have made the decision to retire from SIE in March 2024. I’ve relished the opportunity to have a job I love in a very special company, working with great people and incredible partners. But I’ve found it increasingly difficult to reconcile living in Europe and working in North America. I will leave having been privileged to work on products that have touched millions of lives across the world; PlayStation will always be part of my life, and I feel more optimistic than ever about the future of SIE. I want to thank Yoshida-san for placing so much trust in me and being an incredibly sensitive and supportive leader.”

Comment from Hiroki Totoki

“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Jim Ryan for his outstanding achievements and contributions over his 30-year career at Sony, including the great success of launching the PlayStation 5. The PlayStation business managed by SIE is an essential part of Sony Group’s entire business portfolio. I will work with Jim and the senior management team closely to ensure our continued success and further growth. I am also looking forward to creating the exciting future of PlayStation and the game industry together with everyone at SIE and its business partners.”

This story is developing.

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Ethan Gach

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September 27, 2023
$245 PS5 Controller Promises To Get Rid Of Stick Drift

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French gaming accessory distributor Nacon opened preorders for its Revolution 5 Pro controller for PS5, PS4, and PC. The officially licensed, polished-looking product is listed at €229, or $245, approximately half the cost of a new PlayStation 5. But if you can’t stand stick drift, maybe that’s a small price to pay.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

For a while, it’s seemed like no modern controller could escape stick drift, or phantom joystick movement that affects in-game actions. Nintendo offers Switch owners free repairs for its freewheeling Joy-Cons, and Sony similarly covered drifting DualSense controllers under its warranty. But there are few permanent fixes for any controller.

Nacon, then, attempts to cut the problem out at the root. Like a growing number of other manufacturers (and Sega back in the ‘90s, with its Saturn and Dreamcast controllers), it uses contactless magnet technology, powered by a phenomenon called the Hall effect, to track the movement of its analog joysticks and triggers. This is in contrast to the degradable potentiometers and springs living in a typical Joy-Con or DualSense controller.

Read More: One Of The Most Beloved Nintendo Controllers Is Back To Fix Switch Joy-Con Drift

“This asymmetric controller offers revolutionary features to improve precision and gaming performances,” Nacon writes on its website. “Exceeding all expectations with its technology optimized for the PS5. Enjoy an enriched configuration interface, improved and ergonomic modular design, all wrapped in premium materials for unparalleled comfort.”

Aside from utilizing the magnetic Hall effect for its sticks, the Revolution 5 Pro controller also uses magnets to supply its trigger stops. The company touts its odd-looking d-pad for apparently being made in collaboration with its sponsored fighting game player, which it suggests imparts “exceptional control and precision.” As for the battery, $245 gets about 10 hours of playtime, which is comparable to a DualSense controller (that gives up around the 12-hour mark).

As with many of these high-end “pro” or “elite” controllers the Revolution 5 Pro has various modular pieces you can swap in as you’d like. It offers “four profiles saved per platform, three sets of weights, three stick sizes, three sets of stick heads, one external microphone jack and no less than 60 customisation options,” according to Nacon. So, go crazy.

The expensive controller, available in white or black, will start shipping in October.

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Ashley Bardhan

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September 21, 2023
Spider-Man 2 Will Have Ray Tracing Across All Visual Modes

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Image: Insomniac Games

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is just about a month away, as the PlayStation 5 sequel is set to launch on October 20. While both the original 2018 game and its 2020 spin-off sequel Miles Morales were also on PlayStation 4, Spider-Man 2 is being made exclusively for the PS5’s beefier tech. As such, developer Insomniac claims it’s been able to leverage the system to achieve ray tracing across the board regardless of what graphical performance setting you play on.

This Stylish Noir-Punk Side-Scroller Is Like Celeste With Guns

In an interview with IGN, Insomniac Director of Core Technology Mike Fitzgerald and Project Director Jeannette Lee talked about the tech behind the upcoming open-world game. When the topic of ray tracing (realistic rendering of reflections, lighting, and shadows) came up, Fitzgerald explained that Spider-Man 2 will offer multiple framerate options (30, 40, and 60 frames per second). The 30fps mode will have better graphical fidelity, but if you trade some of that prettier image quality you’ll get a smoother framerate at 60. The 40fps option is for those of us with a 120Hz TV.

Regardless of which you pick, Fitzgerald says ray tracing will be on by default for each mode, and says this is thanks to the studio working with the PlayStation 5 long enough to understand the tech, having released three games on the system already between both prior Spider-Man games and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

“For this game we’re really able to deliver [ray tracing] as a baseline performance mode,” Fitzgerald told IGN. “There’s no mode of this game that has the ray tracing turned off, no need for it. We’ve really figured out how to deliver what we feel like is the right Spider-Man visuals and we want to make sure every player is seeing that.”

That all sounds impressive, and if Insomniac is this good with the tech by now, I’m curious to see what its Wolverine game will look like whenever it comes out. But even before this, Insomniac’s games have been a pretty strong technical showcase for the PlayStation 5. Rift Apart’s portal tech was really wild to see, and supposedly needed the PS5’s solid-state drive to accomplish.

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Kenneth Shepard

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September 15, 2023
Baldur’s Gate 3 Is Still Great On PS5, Just A Little Rougher Around The Edges

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Baldur’s Gate 3 is an excellent game. The PC version of Larian Studios’ D&D epic will easily be a frontrunner in game of the year discussions come December, and the PlayStation 5 version is a comparable experience, at least if you don’t have a beefy enough PC to run the game well. That said, it definitely has more technical troubles than the PC version, although most of what I’ve come across hasn’t been game-breaking.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

The biggest culture shock between PC and PS5 is playing with controller, which uses the same control scheme as the one you can use on PC now. Having put over 100 hours into the game on PC with mouse and keyboard, I do find the DualSense is hurting for buttons in a game with this many actions to use and menus to scroll through, but the more time I spend playing Baldur’s Gate 3 with a controller, the quicker my mind instinctively relearns how to pull off my favorite spells, access different features, and navigate Faerûn from the comfort of my couch. Baldur’s Gate 3 still feels most sensible when you can easily point and click on the enemy you want to blow away with your Eldritch Blast, but Larian has done the best it can with the means of input it’s been given.

Combat and movement are serviceable, but I’ve had much more trouble with minute tasks like examining small items in a cluttered environment. In one of the early sidequests in Baldur’s Gate 3’s first act, my party of Mind Flayer tadpole-infected weirdos was looking through a hag’s lair and had to find a specific wand in the villain’s belongings. Combing through a desk covered in trinkets is much easier when you can just click on them, but while using a controller, it took several more button presses to just grab an item off the table. Pressing on the d-pad lets me focus on items in my surroundings and scroll through them like any other menu, but it definitely feels like an accommodation for not having a mouse to just click on things. Luckily, there is a cursor mode that lets you emulate having a mouse, but it’s not quite as precise or snappy. I definitely think anyone who is playing Baldur’s Gate 3 for the first time on console will be more than happy with these tools; I just catch myself experiencing momentary frustration with the adjustment from time to time.

Screenshot: Larian Studios / Kotaku

While playing with a controller has been an adjustment, I’ve noticed some general technical issues on PlayStation 5 that haven’t been game-breaking, but have at the very least represented a noticeable dip in performance and fidelity compared to the game’s PC counterpart. Each issue has been small on its own terms, but over time they’ve compounded to have a noticeable impact. There are some graphical troubles like texture pop-in, and elements like certain characters’ faces are just presented at a reduced level of detail. I’ve especially noticed this during some sidequests, in which even characters you get some lengthy face time with just don’t look as great as they do on PC. In that same quest with the hag, I saved a girl named Mayrina from the witch’s clutches, and had some lengthy conversations with her in which it was clear the detail on her face and hair had been scaled back a bit for PlayStation 5. These kinds of accommodations are pretty standard, and in return, Baldur’s Gate 3 runs at a pretty solid 60fps in its performance mode, though if you want something with a little bit more fidelity at the expense of framerate, that option exists as well.

The more questionable issues have been less about general technical performance and more about a higher frequency of bugs than I experienced when playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on PC. The first was strange sound mixing in the final act. I loaded a save to play through Baldur’s Gate 3’s endgame and during some of the big climactic moments, the music was muted, and the sound effects of spells casting and swords swinging were delayed or nonexistent. It wasn’t a regular occurrence, but it was drastic enough that the entire vibe of the section was off.

Sound mixing is a weird technical flub, but it doesn’t derail the Baldur’s Gate 3 experience on PlayStation 5. The strangest, unfortunately regularly-occurring glitch I ran into was in choosing dialogue. As I jumped around saves throughout my Baldur’s Gate 3 run, I ran into a few moments where the dialogue options were broken in a way I couldn’t overcome with a dice roll. A few times I would be engaging in a conversation (luckily nothing that could devolve into hostility) and instead of giving me several options to pick a response, I’d be met with only one option: “1. Continue.” Choosing this apparently counts for a dialogue option that should be showing up, but is hidden by a bug. Every instance this has happened to me has been a minor interaction and if I reloaded a save it would (sometimes) fix the issue, but if it persists into life-changing decisions or relationship-altering moments, this could fundamentally undermine the Baldur’s Gate 3 experience. I spoke with some folks who apparently encountered this glitch sparingly on PC, but I never saw it myself, then experienced it a handful of times in rapid succession in just a few hours of playing on PlayStation 5.

Screenshot: Larian Studios / Kotaku

Whether or not you experience video game bugs, especially in a game with as many systems as Baldur’s Gate 3, is often about luck. I had a relatively painless experience playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on PC, and yet Larian was able to deploy a patch that fixed over 1000 bugs, the majority of which I’d never seen. I can’t say for sure if running into these issues on PS5 is just a poor dice roll on my part or speaks to some bugs being more prominent in this console port, but I’ve at least told Larian Studios about this specific issue, because its prevalence in my PS5 playtime is probably the biggest caveat as to whether or not I’d recommend playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on the system.

All that being said, it is a relief to finally be able to play Baldur’s Gate 3 from my couch. I’m still chipping away at my second playthrough, and being able to sit back and relax a bit as I work my way through all the quests and stories I missed the first time around is a real treat. But more than that, I’m looking forward to more people getting to experience this game. Its rougher edges on PlayStation 5 are most likely at the forefront of my mind because I’ve spent so much time playing on my decent PC, but if you were worried the console version was going to be a subpar experience, you won’t find that here.

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Kenneth Shepard

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September 2, 2023
Red Dead Redemption Looks Surprisingly Good On PS5, But Not $50 Good

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Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku

The first thought that came to mind when starting Red Dead Redemption on PlayStation 5 is how well the 13-year old game holds up visually. The second one was that there was still no way in hell I could recommend it to anyone for a “next-gen” price tag of $50. The graphics are clean and crisp, but otherwise it’s the same game that’s been available for years on Xbox One without the Undead Nightmare DLC for almost half that price.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

The cinematic scenes and character interactions still draw you in, and the performances remind you why Rockstar Games’ open-world Western was a worthy GOTY contender (Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Mass Effect 2 also came out in 2010). It still feels like an old game, especially with the original interface, occasionally clunky action, and less-than-snappy controls. Look out across sprawling prairies or cactus-filled desserts and you’ll immediately remember this is a PS3/Xbox 360-era world. Then the sun starts to go down behind the clouds and you remember how special it was at the time and immediately feel pulled back into its drama.

Red Dead Redemption 2 – 5 Minutes of PS5 Gameplay

Red Dead Redemption 2 – 5 Minutes of PS5 Gameplay

I spent a couple of hours with the game on PS5, a clip of which you can see above, and didn’t run into any real issues. It’s locked to a disappointing 30fps, but keeps a consistent performance outside of some occasional stuttering during cutscenes. According to Digital Foundry’s analysis, the PS4 port resolves to “full 4K resolution” and even looks slightly better on PS5 than the backwards compatible version on Xbox Series X/S, especially when it comes to shadows. But the differences are mostly limited to minutiae that few people are likely to notice. “It’s the kind of game that doesn’t really need a major overhaul to work well on modern systems—but even so this is a very barebones effort,” wrote Oliver Mackenzie.

The port would be a home run if not for the $50 head scratcher. It’s not the sort of thing I usually like to harp on, and if you have the money to spare, and never played Red Dead Redemption before, and only have a PS4 or PS5, go for it! But for anyone who just wants to revisit the game or is overwhelmed by the surprising bounty of great new games this year, it’s likely an instant deal breaker, and nothing during my time playing it convinced me otherwise. Maybe the game will come to PS Plus in a few months, or go on sale during the holiday. For now it’s just a pricey trip down memory lane with nothing new to offer.

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Ethan Gach

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August 17, 2023
If A PS5 Slim Is Coming, This Is Probably What It Looks Like

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A new online video appears to show what looks like a PlayStation 5 Slim, the heavily rumored but not-yet-announced smaller version of Sony’s current-gen console.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

Rumors of a sleeker, slimmer PS5 have been floating around online for about a year now, but things really heated up in July. That’s when court docs from the Microsoft v. FCC hearing seemed to confirm its existence, suggesting the device would cost $400 and that it would be released later this year. Now, a new video seems to give us our first look at this slimmer PS5, while also confirming that it might have a detachable disc drive.

On August 10, as spotted by The Verge, an image of the alleged PS5 Slim leaked out via a Chinese forum. That image got shared all over X, formerly Twitter, attracting a lot of attention. But now, the recently surfaced video gives us an even better look at the (still not officially announced) console variant.

The video, posted by Better Way Electronics on Twitter, seems to confirm that not only is the PS5 slim…well, slimmer, but that it will also feature some kind of detachable disk drive. This had first been reported back in September 2022 by Insider Gaming. The new smaller PS5 also sports two USB-C ports on the front of the console, unlike the current version which only has one as well as a USB-A port.

Kotaku has contacted Sony about the leaked console.

Last year, Insider Gaming also reported that Sony was planning to release this new PS5 Slim with a detachable drive in September 2023, which lines up with what Microsoft believed in the previously mentioned court docs. Rumors suggest the PS5 Slim will be sold two ways, one console without the disc drive attached and one in a bundle that comes with it. It’s also believed that Sony will sell the drive itself separately.

At the moment, Sony is selling two versions of the PS5: The $399 PS5 Digital Edition and the $499 PS5 with a disc drive. It’s possible that this new Slim could become the only PS5 in the future, with Sony letting people buy a disc drive if they want or skipping it if they don’t care. The rumored $400 price for the Slim seems to back up that possibility.

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Zack Zwiezen

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August 11, 2023
Let’s Get Really Nostalgic About The Early Days Of PlayStation

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“There was a sense that video games were toys. And Sony is not a toy company.” That’s how a new mini-oral history about PlayStation revolutionizing console gaming begins over at IGN. The words belong to former head of Sony Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden, and they ring true for anyone who grew up with an NES or SNES.…

Read more…

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Ethan Gach

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August 4, 2023
Microsoft And Sony Finally Reach Deal For The Future Of Call Of Duty On PlayStation

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Photo: Barone Firenze / Activision / Kotaku (Shutterstock)

Microsoft and Sony have finally reached a deal for keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation once the Activision Blizzard merger goes through. The surprise agreement comes after months of fighting between the two companies and is a sign the acquisition is all but inevitable.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

“We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer tweeted on July 16. “We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games.”

It’s not immediately clear what the terms of that agreement are, and whether they are similar to proposals Microsoft recently signed with Nintendo and other cloud gaming providers. In the past, Sony has paid Activision for special benefits relating to Call of Duty, including timed-exclusive content and special marketing rights. It was also revealed during the recent court battle over the deal that Activision had leveraged its partnership with Sony to negotiate better commission rates for the franchise on Xbox.

Read More: Sony Won’t Share PS6 Info With Call Of Duty Devs If Owned By Microsoft

Sony had been vigorously contesting Microsoft’s planned acquisition of the publisher in regulatory proceedings across Europe, the UK, and the U.S. After the recent legal defeat of the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to block the deal, however, the PlayStation 5 maker seems to have decided it’s time to settle. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan had reportedly said in the past that his only interest was in blocking the deal.

Sony’s current agreement with Activision wasn’t set to expire until 2025, and the new agreement seems likely to carry through for at least the rest of the PS5’s life. Microosft has claimed all along that it’s not in its financial interest to make the series exclusive as the games generate billions in revenue on the competing platform.

Microsoft declined to comment. Sony did not immediately respond.

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Ethan Gach

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July 16, 2023
PlayStation Fans Refuse To Throw Away Box Even After Sony Tells Them To

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The official PlayStation UK Twitter account has decreed it’s “OK to throw away the cardboard box your PlayStation came in now,” but squirrelly fans aren’t convinced. What if they might actually one day need the dusty, frayed cardboard their PS4 arrived in 10 years ago?

Hollow Knight: Silksong’s New Gameplay Trailer Is Living Rent-Free In Our Brains

What if stockpiled boxes could solve the housing crisis? What if fans encounter a locked door that requires three PlayStation boxes to open it, and behind that door is a never-before-seen copy of an NC-17 Ratchet & Clank spinoff series, Ratchet & Klonopin? They want to know.

But first, they require clarification—are we talking about the PS5 box, here, or the PS4 and PS3 boxes, too?

“Yeah those too,” PlayStation said. “Unless you’re planning to build a PlayStation themed cardboard fort.”

Huh. Good idea. People started posting defiant photos of their lonely boxes, perhaps to get a sense of available raw building material.

“Why is it next to a mop this is upsetting,” PlayStation replied to one of those photos.

“What if I need [my box] to stop Metal Gear, PlayStation UK?” one fan wondered.

“Fair,” replied PlayStation.

I don’t really get it. It seems like everyone has been holding onto their empty boxes except for me. Had I known, I would have tried to get an ant farm going in my Xbox 360 box, or something. The ants would have probably grown to a bionic size by now from all the traces of heavy metal.

But while I don’t keep empty boxes and never managed to cultivate a family of ants, I have been holding onto my actual PS5, which PlayStation just announced a few new subscription gaming titles for. PlayStation Plus subscribers will gain access to NBA 2K23, Jurassic World Evolution 2, and indie darling Trek to Yomi beginning June 6.

The NBA 2K23 Devin Booker doesn’t look like he’d keep a PlayStation carcass lying around, though. Do you? Have you heard of “recycling”? Make your case for keeping old boxes in the comments.

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Ashley Bardhan

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May 31, 2023
9 Things We Just Learned About Sony’s Big Playstation Plans

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With the wind at their back, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan and head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst recently presented the state of the PlayStation 5 ecosystem to investors and hinted at what’s coming in the near future. Among other things, the company promised new IPs, more live-service games, and a big push behind cloud gaming.

Type S: Chiaki’s Journey II Volume 4

While Sony’s big gaming showcase will offer specific details on new game announcements, release dates, and potential hardware refreshes, the investor presentation was a broader look at the current state of the PlayStation business and where it’s headed next. We got a pretty granular breakdown of some interesting sales data as well as cryptic teases of upcoming initiatives, like Sony’s rumored cloud gaming handheld, Q Lite [Update 5/25/2023 11:07 a.m. ET: the devices was revealed in the showcase and it’s wild looking]. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the company’s latest business meeting.

PS VR2 is already outselling the first virtual reality headset

Sony’s new virtual reality headset is a comfortable but pricey bundle that requires users to already own a PS5, but initial sales numbers show it’s actually tracking ahead of the first PS VR headset. PS VR2 sold 600,000 units in its first six weeks, while the PS VR1 sold closer to 550,000. Whether that momentum will build the platform into something more than an expensive accessory for enthusiasts remains to be seen.

Image: Sony / Kotaku

Analysts previously called for a price cut to fuel sales, and it’s unclear if big new games will arrive without a larger install base, especially as companies like Meta lay off VR developers amid cutbacks.

Sony plans to invest a ton in new franchises

Since the PS5 launched, fans have been waiting to see what new IPs would grow out of the latest console generation. So far it’s been mostly sequels to series that already existed or got their start on the PS4 like God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Spider-Man. But Sony revealed that new franchises are planned. PlayStation Studios’ investment in new IP will hit 50 percent in 2025, compared to only 20 percent in 2019. However the lag in production means we might not end up seeing the results of that spending until late in the PS5’s life cycle.

Live-service games will be over half of that spending

Sony’s first-party single-player games have been setting the bar for story-driven blockbusters for years now, from The Last of Us to Ghost of Tsushima. It’s clear the company now wants to do the same for live-service multiplayer games as well, and will be leveraging its recent acquisition of Destiny 2 maker Bungie to achieve that.

Image: Sony / Kotaku

The breakdown of total spending on content this year will be 55 percent on live-service business models vs 45 percent on “traditional” ones. The difference will be even more stark by 2025, when live-service spending will reach 60 percent of seemingly all production costs. It’s possible some of those games will still have a traditional single-player emphasis and just include cosmetic shops, like Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Others are sure to be multiplayer-focused affairs more like Destiny 2.

PS5 owners spend a ton on microtransactions

Prestigious exclusives might help sell consoles, but it’s not what makes the most money once players are locked in. Sony revealed that PS5 players are spending over $100 more than PS4 players were at a similar point in the console cycle. That extra money isn’t coming from more games sold, however. It’s coming from spending on add-on content, meaning paid DLC and microtransactions.

Full game sales actually dropped by 10 percent on the PS5, while add-on content grew by 210 percent. Although Sony collects a 30 percent commission on all in-game purchases in Fortnite, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, and Apex Legends on the platform, it would stand to make a ton more if those purchases were made inside its own first-party exclusives.

Spider-Man sold great on PC while The Last of Us Part I is off to a slower start

2018’s Spider-Man didn’t arrive on PC until last year. In the eight months since it hit PC, the game sold an additional 1.5 million copies on the platform. The Last of Us Part I, meanwhile, has sold 368,000 copies since it arrived on Steam in March. That’s not bad considering it’s a remaster of a decade-old game many people have already played on PS3, PS4, and PS5. But it’s not exactly God of War numbers, which sold nearly a million copies in its first two and a half months on PC.

Image: Sony / Kotaku

It’s not clear how much The Last of Us Part I’s rough performance and poor optimization at launch hurt its initial momentum, compared to the overall increase in sales of the game across all platforms following the success of the hit HBO adaptation. It seems like the port was in part a learning exercise for Naughty Dog, potentially as Sony eyes bringing the rest of its games to PC.

Half of all game releases won’t just be on PS5 by 2025

In the past Sony seemed afraid to cannibalize console sales by releasing its games on PC. Now it’s clear the company is ready to do just the opposite, porting its exclusives and investing in potential mobile spin-offs. The company plans for 50 percent of its releases in 2025 to be either PC or mobile games.

A lot of players are paying for the more expensive PlayStation Plus subscriptions

When Sony unveiled its overhauled PS Plus program, creating three separate tiers and folding its PlayStation Now streaming service into the priciest one, it seemed needlessly complicated. The highest tier, Premium, also didn’t seem worth the extra price in exchange for a slim selection of PlayStation Classics and cloud gaming features that are still a work-in-progress.

Image: Sony / Kotaku

It turns out a lot of people were willing to upgrade, however. Sony says 14.1 million subscribers joined the higher tiers in the first 10 months, which now represent 30 percent of all PS Plus users. And Premium actually accounts for the majority of those with 17 percent of total subscribers, while the middle-tier, Extra, only has 13 percent.

The first PlayStation mobile game will arrive as early as 2023

Sony said it’s currently “partnered with established teams on games,” and “bringing some of our most celebrated IP to mobile,” with the first set to release in fiscal year 2023. The company acquired mobile maker Savage Game Studios last August and Bungie has also long been rumored to be working on a mobile version of Destiny 2. According to Sony’s charts, the mobile gaming market is already bigger than console and PC gaming combined, and it only projects that gap to widen in the coming years.

Sony’s doubling-down on cloud gaming

In the most cryptic part of the presentation, CEO Jim Ryan said the company has “some fairly interesting and quite aggressive plans to accelerate our initiatives in the space of the cloud.” He didn’t elaborate on what those are, but made the comment in the context of mobile gaming and portability. It certainly raises eyebrows since Sony has also now revealed a cloud gaming handheld codenamed Project Q that would be a remote play accessory for the PS5.

PS Plus also doesn’t currently support cloud gaming on smartphones either, requiring you to use a PS4, PS5, or PC. We do know that Sony has been developing a number of patents to decrease latency while streaming games, and The Verge previously reported that the company is hiring for a number of roles to build out its cloud gaming infrastructure. Cloud gaming has been at the center of the regulatory fight over Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard, and it seems like whatever the outcome of that proposed merger, Sony wants to take back some of the video game streaming market share it previously ceded to Game Pass and xCloud.

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Ethan Gach

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May 25, 2023
PlayStation Shuts Down Concrete Genie Dev Amidst Continued Pivot To Prestige

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Image: PixelOpus

Sony has quietly closed down PixelOpus, one of its first-party PlayStation Studios. Based in San Mateo, California, the studio was responsible for 2014’s Entwined and 2019’s Concrete Genie.

This Wacky Magical Girl Anime Is Studio Trigger-Coded To Perfection

News of this first broke through a Twitter post from the studio, which expressed the team’s gratitude to the players who have enjoyed their games.

“Dear friends, our PixelOpus adventure has come to an end. As we look to new futures, we wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to the millions of passionate players who have supported us, and our mission to make beautiful, imaginative games with heart. We are so grateful!”

Sony didn’t immediately comment on the closure publicly but has since confirmed in a statement to IGN that PixelOpus is, in fact, shuttering on June 2.

“PlayStation Studios regularly evaluates its portfolio and the status of studio projects to ensure they meet the organization’s short and long-term strategic objectives,” the company told IGN. “As part of a recent review process, it has been decided that PixelOpus will close on June 2.”

PixelOpus was a small team within the hulking giant that is PlayStation Studios, having less than 20 employees as of 2019. The studio’s breakout game was 2019’s Concrete Genie on PS4, which was gorgeous to look at and had cool painting mechanics, but its pacing felt a bit plodding, even with a brisk run time of five or so hours. Before the closure, Pixelopus was working on a project with Sony Pictures Animation, but we don’t know yet if that game is still in the works with another team or has been canceled entirely.

It’s a sad end for a talented studio, but feels pretty in line with Sony’s hard pivot to prestige blockbusters at all costs. On top of closing PixelOpus, the company shuttered Japan Studio in 2021, which was putting out some of the more experimental work within the PlayStation first-party ecosystem. It’s a shame, and while there are still some studios doing cool things at places like Media Molecule, there’s certainly a gap within Sony’s catalog without it.

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Kenneth Shepard

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May 5, 2023
The Last Of Us Part 1’s PC Port Isn’t In Great Shape

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The Last Of Us—a zombie apocalypse game, you might have heard of it—was finally released on PC this week. That’s good news for anyone who hasn’t managed to play it over its past three releases on various PlayStation consoles, but the bad news is that, at launch at least, the game isn’t at its best.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

At time of posting the game only has a 33% positive rating on Steam, a figure and timeframe that has little to do with the quality of the game itself, and everything to do with the condition it has released in. Player’s complaints are many, but they boil down to a few widespread issues like:

Freezes: The game is locking up at all kinds of random places, sometimes on its own, sometimes taking Steam (or the whole PC) with it.

CTD: The game is constantly crashing to the desktop for many users.

Performance: Players are complaining that the game places far too much strain on the CPU rather than the GPU, and that as a result performance is nowhere near as smooth as it should be relative to their systems.

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Mouse stutter: Now this one is funny. Apparently using the keyboard + mouse results in stutters. Using a gamepad removes this. So there’s a control-based performance hit? Wild (this was also reportedly an issue with the Uncharted ports as well).

Some of my favourite Steam reviews include:

Wow this runs like crap

The single worst PC port I have ever seen. Waited 10 years for the game, avoiding any and all walkthrough videos, reviews, spoilers and etc. and this disgusting excuse of a port ruined every single ounce of excitement I had for the game. Building shaders for almost 2 hours now, crashes in main menu while building shaders every 5 or so minutes.

Terrible optimization. Game takes more than 8 gigs of VRAM on medium settings, 100% CPU utilization in menu. And the temps are really high too. Probably going to refund soon.

Pre-purchased & pre-loaded. Launched it as soon as it was ready. Went to the setings. Turns out this game is eating up nearly 10GB of VRAM at 1440p max settings (game defaulted the settings to maximum). I’m running a RTX 3080 Ti with 12GB VRAM, mind you. Never could get past the menu screen which always crashes when the game displays a notification at the bottom right corner that reads ‘BUILDING SHADERS’.

While you’d expect this stuff will be fixed (or at least improved) in the months to come, it’s starting to become a disappointing pattern that many of Sony’s big PlayStation ports are hitting with performance problems on PC. Horizon was a mess, Uncharted suffered from many of these same problems and now this. Sure, there’s encouragement to be found there too—Horizon overcame its early struggles to be a damn fine experience on the PC—but these bad first impressions aren’t helping anyone.

For what it’s worth, Naughty Dog has responded to the issues, saying:

The Last of Us Part I PC players: we’ve heard your concerns, and our team is actively investigating multiple issues you’ve reported. We will continue to update you, but our team is prioritizing updates and will address issues in upcoming patches.

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Luke Plunkett

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March 28, 2023
Bobby Kotick Calls Out PlayStation In Email To Whole World

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Photo: Kevin Dietsch (Getty Images)

As we grow closer to the finish line in the months-long struggle for Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard, things are getting tense. Governments are getting involved, weird promises are being made and the people at the centre of it all—like Activision CEO Bobby Kotick—sound like they’re starting to feel the strain.

This Mini Sega Arcade Cabinet Packed With Retro Games Would Make A Great Gift

Which might explain why earlier today Kotick sent out an email to his entire company—and then posted it on the internet for the whole world to see—which does little but bang his head against the wall repeating the same arguments Microsoft, Activision (and now select US politicians) have been making for months: that the deal is fine, that everything is cool, that Microsoft has made “thoughtful, generous remedies to address regulators’ concerns”.

One thing stands out in this email, though, and it’s a section where Kotick has to juggle maintaining a business relationship with Sony while also wanting to throw them under the bus. Let’s see how he fared (emphasis mine):

The good news is, regulators who initially had concerns about console competition are starting to better understand our industry. The data and evidence Microsoft has been presenting are tilting the scale. You may have seen statements from Sony, including an argument that if this deal goes through, Microsoft could release deliberately “buggy” versions of our games on PlayStation. We all know our passionate players would be the first to hold Microsoft accountable for keeping its promises of content and quality parity. And, all of us who work so hard to deliver the best games in our industry care too deeply about our players to ever launch sub-par versions of our games. Sony has even admitted that they aren’t actually concerned about a Call of Duty agreement—they would just like to prevent our merger from happening. This is obviously disappointing behavior from a partner for almost thirty years, but we will not allow Sony’s behavior to affect our long term relationship. PlayStation players know we will continue to deliver the best games possible on Sony platforms as we have since the launch of PlayStation.

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In other words, “it’s not me, it’s you”. I don’t see any other way he could have put this, to be honest, but then this kind of tiptoeing is exactly why this proposed deal has been so important to the future of the console business: so many grenades have been lobbed by both sides that there’s going to be bad blood here for years regardless of the decision.

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Luke Plunkett

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March 28, 2023
A Ton Of Lowkey Features Just Made The PS5 Way More Convenient

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I spend a lot of time putzing around my PlayStation 5: deleting games here, downloading them there, looking for old saves, and trying to talk to friends. It’s made me appreciate every new firmware update, no matter how small or niche the improvements it makes are. And earlier this month, Sony delivered a bunch of satisfying tweaks.

Players got a preview of March’s big 7.0 firmware upgrade back in February, revealing Discord integration, new save data transfer options, and more. It recently went live, and it’s a far cry from the usual opaque “improves system performance” updates. It’s not as big a deal as the PS5 finally getting folders, and there are still plenty of other new features I’d love to see, but it’s another milestone in the platform’s continued improvement.

Use Discord to voice chat with Xbox friends

Screenshot: Discord

Cross-play has been great for bringing people across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC together, but actually trying to communicate with them was still a drag. Discord integration fixes that, and lets you easily start up conversations with anyone and feed the audio through your console.

Plus, it doesn’t even have to be game-specific. Someone playing Rocket League? Another person watching Mandalorian? No problem! Discord is actually great for just chilling together while everyone does their own thing.

Capture gameplay using your voice

It sounds silly, but you can now use the microphone on the DualSense controller to ask the PS5 to record gameplay. Perfect for capturing gameplay in the thick of battle or a tense competition when you don’t want to lose control while toggling over manually. Now if only there was text-to-speech to type out the social media posts sharing my highlights.

Update your DualSense wirelessly

There’s nothing worse than trying to play a game and seeing that your controller needs to get a firmware update. Previously, this required plugging it into the PS5. Now, you can download and install it wirelessly. It was the smallest of inconveniences, and thankfully it’s now gone.

Get variable refresh rates on 1440p monitors

Variable Refresh Rate support came to PS5 last year. It helps the framerate flow more smoothly and makes the graphics look crisper. With the lastest patch, it’ll also work with 1440p monitors, a niche but practical halfway point between 1080p and 4K. I don’t play my PS5 on one of these displays, but I’d be pleasantly surprised if I did.

Receive notifications for save data in the cloud

Image: Sony

Like a lot of PS5 owners, I have a huge library of PS4 games, and save data from all of them backed up in the cloud. Unlike Xbox Series X/S, however, the PS5 doesn’t automatically pull that save data over. But now, it does something almost as good: send a notification prompt when you install a game that supports your existing PS4 data (like a PS5 game where you can transfer saves). Clicking on the prompt will automatically start the transfer, rather than having to go rummaging through a bunch menus.

Join games directly from the party chat

Another button-prompt shortcut, it’s now possible to meet up with friends in-game directly from the party chat menu. It’s a nice time saver considering how often you migh group up to play the same thing, and your friends or clan mates probably already got started before you.

See what your friends are playing more easily

This feature is still somewhat incomplete, but it’s still a step in the right direction. Like with Steam, it’s now easier to see which friends own a game you have or are actively playing it. A small section with that info sits under each game tile on the PS5 home screen. My only quibble is that you have to click through to see which friends own it, and it only tells you someone plays that game if they are online in the middle of an active session. Baby steps.

Request to watch a friend’s game directly from their profile

I rarely use the share screen feature, usually because if I’m online with friends we’re probably already playing something together. Still, it’s another nice shortcut to be able to quickly watch what someone’s playing directly from their profile, skipping another bit of the PS5’s tedious and often esoteric menu scrolling.

Filter games when adding them to a folder

Image: Sony

Alright, game folders are my favorite new feature the PS5 has gotten since launch, and they just got easier to make. When they first went live, you had to scroll through your entire library adding stuff as you went. Now you can filter it by various categories, making the whole organizational process much, much faster. Will I ever play 99 percent of games I stick in the PS5’s folders? Not a chance. But I like doing it all the same. It helps me relax and feel less guilty about my backlog.

It’s possible we’ll get another batch of PS5 tweaks later in the year. “We are always thinking about the features that our fans might want to see and ways to make their gaming experiences on PS5 more fun, social, and connected,” Sony Product Management VP Hiromi Wakai said in a recent interview. “We keep a very long list of features and think carefully about how we prioritize our time and resources to deliver the ones that will make the most meaningful impact on our players’ experience.”

Hopefully PS5 background themes aren’t too far away.

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Ethan Gach

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March 18, 2023
Drake Now Owns Pharrell’s $20,000 Golden PSP

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Hi, welcome, let’s take a break from industry news and global doom and talk about a rap video and very, very expensive PlayStation Portable handheld.

Producer, rapper and anime enthusiast Pharrell Williams was, a very long time ago, slightly notable for owning a 14-karat gold Blackberry (I told you it was a very long time ago). In 2008, to keep the theme going, he bought a PSP and “commissioned a 14K gold PSP casing to replace the stock plastic”.

This shinier, much heavier PSP (coming in at 660g vs a stock PSP’s 280g) wasn’t designed to just carry around in his pockets; to complement the extravagance of the handheld itself—which wasn’t jewellery, he was still using it to play games on—Pharrell also had a custom Goyard case made up.

Why am I telling you this now, in 2023? Partly because I only just found out about it, and thought the idea of Pharrell Williams owning a golden PlayStation Portable is about the most “Last Days Of Rome” act of pre-GFC extravagance I can think of sharing on this website in a feature that’s all about video game history.

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I’m also telling you this in 2023 because that very same PSP just turned up in a new Drake video, after the Canadian rapper spent a few million bucks buying some of Pharrell’s old stuff—mostly jewellery—at auction. The PSP is visible just a few seconds in, gets waved at the screen around 0:50 and gets very close to the camera at 1:29:

Drake – Jumbotron Shit Poppin (Official Music Video)

If you’d like to see more pics of the PSP, here’s the auction listing (on Pharrell’s own auction site), which shows that it sold last year for $19,375

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Luke Plunkett

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January 18, 2023
The Specs For Some PC Games Are Getting Out Of Control

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Square Enix’s Forspoken is asking for a LOT of RAM
Image: Square Enix

Over the past few years, the minimum amount of RAM you’d need to play the latest games on PC has been somewhere around the 8-16GB ballpark. Unless, that is, you’re talking about some very weird outliers, both of which are also games from, or appearing on, the PlayStation 5.

Last month we learned that Returnal, a game released in April 2021 on the PS5, would be coming out on the PC in 2023 with recommended specs “asking for an eye-watering 32 gigabytes of ram”. 32GB! What the fuck! While that was just the recommended amount—the minimum is a still-hefty 16GB—it certainly stood out not just for the sheer amount needed, but the fact that it didn’t really seem like the kind of game that, let’s be real, would need that much compared to its peers. But having come from the PS5, most people simply wrote it off as a consequence of the game’s development having been a weird, console-first quirk and got on with their lives.

Image: Square Enix

Now, though, the Square Enix-published Forspoken—a game also coming to the PlayStation 5 but with a PC version hitting alongside it at launch—is doing much the same thing. It has 16GB of RAM as a minimum (just to run at 720p! On a PC!), with 24GB recommended and 32GB required if you want to run the game at Ultra settings. Returnal being a port of a PS5 game was one thing, but Forspoken has been developed with a PC version launching alongside the console edition, so it doesn’t have that excuse.

This is too much RAM! I bought a brand new gaming PC in 2020 and it came with 16GB of RAM, which at the time was fine, maybe even slightly excessive, because games were only ever asking for 8GB (2022’s Modern Warfare II, just for comparison’s sake, asks for 16GB to run at Ultra 4K). To have leapt to the point where certain PlayStation-related games (and almost no others!) are asking for 16GB as a minimum is wild, and I’m sorry Returnal and Forspoken, but neither of you are going to make me go out and buy new hardware just to play.

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Sony has done a pretty good job lately of bringing its games to PC, with everything from Horizon to God of War doing well enough to make ports a fundamental part of PlayStation’s release business going forwards (The Last Of Us, for example, is coming in March). Those have all been games released on the PS4, though, and so came with relatively reasonable specs; if this is the amount of RAM needed to bring PS5 games to the PC (and I’m not saying it definitively is, just that this is now a pattern), then Sony’s future ports might not enjoy such smooth sailing.

While we’re on the subject of Forspoken, a demo was recently released, and fan feedback has resulted in some changes being made to the game:

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Luke Plunkett

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January 17, 2023
30 Indie Games You Should Know About Releasing In 2023

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PlayStation

Thirsty Suitors is a cross between Scott Pilgrim’s battles with evil exes, stylish arcade skateboarding, and cooking segments all portrayed through a South Asian cultural lens. Outerloop Games’ RPG stars Jala as she returns to an old town with old flames, and frames their reconciliation through turn-based battles where the simple act of talking to each other is pumped up to ridiculous levels. There’s even a stage in which Jala enters a dream world where her exes appear as powerful, distorted versions of their own self-concept. Think Persona 5 but with fewer criminals. Jala explores her old town on a skateboard (more Jet Set Radio than Tony Hawk), and when she’s home with her family, she cooks with her mother in over-the-top, campy fashion. Thirsty Suitors portrays all of its storylines in this way, but there’s a grounded humanity at its core that will be exciting to see when the game launches on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch.

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Kenneth Shepard

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January 7, 2023