Sony is Set to Release More Games for PC

Sony’s full year corporate report was published over the weekend. Due to the global pandemic Sony estimates a ¥68.2 billion loss (£484 million) in revenue. Despite this Sony's gaming sales have done well. The PlayStation business now generates more sales and operating income than any other part of Sony:

Sony has announced that they want to gain a growth in active users and this means expanding more into other territories: 

"Targeted outcomes include growth in active users, stronger retention and a shorter cash conversion cycle, from which expanded cash flow can be expected. We will explore expanding our 1st party titles to the PC platform, in order to promote further growth in our profitability."

The company also stated that it's largest competition is the PC gaming market.

"Competition from online PC games and players from other industries is expected to continue to intensify. The fundamental growth strategy will be to innovate and evolve the PlayStation Platform. To this end, SIE intends to make proactive investments to reinforce content IP, and work to raise brand value, foster communities and user engagement, while enhancing DTC services that get closer to users." 

Exclusives are still at the heart of Sony's interest but it is possible that we will see titles like Spider-Man and God of War probably hitting the PC to gain a further revenue boost from non PSN gamers.

Marvel's Avengers: The Undead Pixel

 

When the Marvel's Avengers teaser came out to those that had pre-ordered it, I was eager to see virtual photographer's shots. The game looked lacking graphically and judging from peoples work, in comparison to their normal shots, it seemed the game really was not up to standard when compared with most modern games.

I downloaded the demo when it was free to play for everyone on seeing the work of The Undead Pixel. He made the game look amazing, proving how photo mode is a brilliant marketing platform for any company (I'm looking at you Capcom). 

As you can see from his selection of portraiture selected here that he took from the game, it looks astounding. The colours, the light and shadow even the ambience is strong. Each shot is coated in an atmosphere of emotion. 

Having now played the demo I can say with the up most confidence that this is down to the skills of the photographer. The game doesn't look great, the photo mode was very poor and there were large sections where photos could not be taken. 

With this in mind I implore you to check out the work and gallery of The Undead Pixel. He puts as much effort into the rest of his photography as he does these. You will not be disappointed. Check out his gallery here.

Normally I would only use four photos on the showcase, but due to how awkward the game is and the lack of amazing photography out there of the game, I felt it only just to upload a few extra. These are a stunning example of what happens when you push yourself beyond taking a shot in a game and go that step further to attaining your vision. 

PS Plus Games for September

 

Coming on the 1st of September we have Street Fighter V and PUBG. The good thing about this bundle is that it will give the online multiplayer of both titles a huge surge, delighting both veterans and newcomers. 

For trophy hunters both are probably a no go. Both needing a predicted 150 hours of playtime and Street Fighter V being one of the few games rated a 10/10 difficulty and also 150 hours. However if you just want some good old fashioned online fun, then you have a lot to look forward to.

PS4 Hardware Useful on PS5

PS4 DualShock 4 controllers will connect to the PS5, and owners will be able to use them for backwards compatible PS4 titles. PS5 games, however, will require the new DualSense controller.

Also, a lot of the additional controllers PS4 owners have collected over the years will transfer over to the PS5. Licensed racing wheel, arcade sticks, and flight sticks will work for both PS4 and PS5 games on the new console. The PlayStation 4 camera will work for PS5 virtual reality games, but it will require a new adaptor to use.

PS4 Exclusive Top 5 Bestsellers

In just a few mere months, both The Last of Us Part 2 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake have ranked among the best-selling PS4 exclusives in the US. It is no surprise when you see the astounding feedback of both from critics worldwide.

 

Ghost of Tsushima - VP Vibrancy

Ghost of Tsushima was released on Friday and what a game it is. Not being able to afford games on release at the moment, I was lucky enough to have Enthusiast Gamer let me share play his for an hour on the games release. I watched him immerse for a while before having a turn myself and then I watched him conquer some Mongol outposts and progress in the story. 

The game achieves all it sets out to do. Visually stunning it through me straight into the world of a Kurosawa movie, stoic, violent and beautiful. It took my breath away.  

While the photo mode is astounding and very well developed and the games visuals are pretty much perfect, what sold me even more was the combat. Fluid, cinematic and rewarding you have to play it to really get a feel for it. Just in a mere three hours experience, I could not recommend the game highly enough.

Indie Dev Interview with Lauri Paakinaho

Indie games have a special place in my heart. I started my gaming journey on the Game Boy Colour and cheap titles on my laptop at the time. Being an indie developer is no easy task, most struggle to make a profit and releases can be very hit and miss. Yet if you take the time to turn away from the eye candy of the triple A titles the games industry has to offer, you can be entertained by countless little gems. 

Today we have an interview with Lauri Paakinaho, the one man army that is Woblyware. Due to my love of Devious Dungeon I felt the need to interview him on his experiences and inspirations. 

Many in the VP community seek to work their way into some avenue of the games industry so I hope this interview is as helpful and inspiring as I found it.  


Q: Having created a range of indie titles what would you say has beenyour favourite project that you have worked on so far and why?
A: I'd have to say Omega Strike is my personal favorite. It's the
biggest game I ever made and put the most effort into. To me it feels
like the most complete game I've made.

Omega Strike

Q: I loved the character and level design across all of your games. Whatinspires you to create such vibrantly cute worlds?
A: It's just a style I like a lot. From all the inspiration I've took
from other artist, this kind of style always looked great in my opinion
and eventually my own art style developed in the same direction.

Q: In your time as both a gamer and a creator is there any other Indietitles that have inspired you?
A: Yes, several games have inspired me along the way such as Spelunky,
Mercenary Kings and many many smaller games like old flash games.

Spelunky by Derek Yu

Mercenary Kings by Tribute Games

Q: What were the biggest obstacles you faced being an indie developer and how did you overcome them?
A: I work mostly alone, so the biggest problem is making games that are
good enough to stand among all the other games that are coming out. It's
really hard to make a living as an indie dev and you never know if your
project will be profitable. But somehow after 10 years I'm still doing
this for a living so maybe I'm just extra lucky hehe.

Q: Do you have any advice for budding games designers out there?

A: Start small and try to finish projects. It's fairly easy to get your
game released on the App Store or Steam these days and even though the
game may not make much money, it will look good on your resume if you're
looking for a job in the games industry.

Q: And finally do we have a new game on the horizon to look forward to?

A: I've been working on a game called Royal Frontier which is a turn
based roguelite. It should be coming out later this year or maybe next
year.

July's PS Plus Games Announced

July not only brings the 10th anniversary of PS Plus for Sony but also with it three titles for the month. These are as follows:

NBA2K20

With the release of NBA2k21 potentially on the horizon, for those excited at getting in on the latest release of the franchise they will be happy to know that it is free this July. The replay mode also allows you to take some brilliant photographs. Perhaps something a little different from your usual virtual photography habits. 

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider comes to us for free also this July. The second in the series of the Tomb Raider reboots. Getting high critical acclaim of 90% or over from a huge host of respectable reviewers, it is certainly worth a play from anyone who hasn't taken the time to already. 

Erica

The least known out of the three giveaway games, Erica takes place following the deaths of both her parents, she finds herself floating through life alone in an apartment as the world passes her by. Her repressed memories come in the form of nightmares that eventually lead to the reopening of the murder case.

The game is only two hours long and is entirely FMV. Players interact with the story through button prompts on screen. It received mostly very favourable reviews and is certainly going to be a different experience from what gamers are used to.

The Last of Us: Wolfwithashield

The Last of Us by Wolfwithashield

Known for her soft and dreamlike focus, Wolfwithashield's work is always distinguishable in the steady stream of virtual photography. 

The Last of Us by Wolfwithashield

No matter the game, setting or situation, her shots always have the atmosphere of a classical painting.  The softness, bold colours and often glassy eyed portraits create a homage to modern gaming and traditional art.

The Last of Us by Wolfwithashield

While these shots all focus on The Last of Us, her profile here, shows a wide range of games and genres, which I implore you to check out.

The Last of Us by Wolfwithashield

July's Xbox Gold Games

As per usual next months PS Now games have not been announced, but as the  the Tenth Anniversary of the subscription’s launch next week, PS4 owners could be in for a treat.

Sony hasn’t confirmed celebrating the milestone, but they rarely confirm anything ahead of the official announcement. 

Meanwhile Xbox Gold users can snap up these games on their system in July:

Xbox One
WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship (July 1-31)
Dunk Lords (July 16-August 15)

Xbox 360 
Saints Row 2 (July 1-15)
Juju (July 16-31)

The Last of Us Part 2: Enthusiast Gamer

The Last of Us by Enthusiast Gamer

Tomorrow is the big official release of the game many have been waiting for. The Last of Us was not only a huge success with fans but received widespread critical acclaim. A few people were lucky enough to get their early copies in. One of these was Kevin aka Enthusiast Gamer. A fellow Plat Runner and virtual photographer. 

The Last of Us by Enthusiast Gamer

He was kind enough (also excited enough) to send me his first shots of the game and for you all I post them here now to show you what the game is capable of. At first I approached him for photographs that he had taken of the original. However due to the sequel arriving today this has become a double feature. 

The Last of Us Part 2  by Enthusiast Gamer

Between the two sets of shots you can see they are miles apart in terms of graphical capability, yet Kevin's photography style still shines through. 

The Last of Us Part 2  by Enthusiast Gamer

All the shots of the Last of Us Part 2 are unedited in their "raw" form.

The Last of Us Part 2  by Enthusiast Gamer

To all of you that are snapping shots of the new game, if you want yours featured on the blog get in touch and I will make it a reality for the Last of Us Showcase Week, in celebration of the games launch. 

The Last of Us by Enthusiast Gamer

For more of Kevin's shots check out his page here.

PlayStation 4 Must be Compatible With PlayStation 5

Sony has told developers that new games coming out for the PlayStation 4 must be compatible with the upcoming PlayStation 5 console. The new rule this compatibility will be from the 13th of June on wards.  However all PS4 games released or submitted before this period have been advised to be patched or remastered for the PS5.

Hopefully the PS5 announcement event on the 4th of June will shed more light on the subject.

The PS5 is still set to launch in the 2020 holidays and Sony have reassured gamers that despite Covid 19 there will be no price changes. 

Warframe Play it For Free Forever

Warframe: PC - Shot by VPVibrancy

Lately on Instagram I have been seeing a lot of negativity in the community, which is understandable given the worlds current circumstances. I am seeing a lot of comments about a lack of variation in peoples, feeds, boredom and that people are in a rut with no new games. 

Today I am going to throw out the suggestion of trying out Warframe. It is free to play on PC, Xbox and PS4. It has a delightful captura mode that gives you settings to shoot your character, scanned villains and friends in. That's right, your friends!  What other game allows you to pause the game play and all zoom around taking shots. 

Warframe: PS4 Pro - Shot by VPVibrancy

Not only can the game can be played from start to finish with your first weapons and Warframe, but the story is vast and expansive. I didn't even get to the end of the story missions until I was around 120 hours in. 

Also, In a recent earnings report (via Gamespot), Leyou Technology - parent company of Warframe developer Digital Extremes - revealed that the company is planning to "expand Warframe to more platforms, such as the next-generation consoles and other devices".  Showcasing that any progress you make on your PS4 or XboxOne will be carried over to the next gen consoles via your gamertag login. 

Warframe: PS4 Pro - Shot by VPVibrancy

Warframe has been going since 2013 and with each update brings with it mind blowing amounts of free content. The latest introducing ship to ship battles. Previous instalments added larger more MMO areas which hold unique activities and offer custom gear building as well as new types of equipment and weaponry. 

Warframe: PS4 Pro - Shot by VPVibrancy

For those that haven't heard of the game before, you play the role of a Tenno, an ancient race of warriors, who must explore various planets and moons within the solar system to purge evil and uncover the long lost secrets of the race. 

Warframe: PS4 Pro - Shot by VPVibrancy

At first the game can seem overwhelming with the huge depth of customisation. But if you take it one step at a time you catch up as you need to. Across all platforms it is still very popular, its free and sits somewhere around 44gb. 

If you're bored and fed up this lock down, give it a try. 

Warframe: PS4 Pro - Shot by VPVibrancy

PS5 Deep Dive

For those of you that didn't watch the PS5 Deep Dive video with the consoles Lead System Architect Mark Cerny or tuned out early on as you (like me) hoped to see footage, here are the PS5's specs:

CPU: 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz (variable frequency)

GPU: 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (variable frequency)

GPU Architecture: Custom RDNA 2

Memory/Interface: 16GB GDDR6/256-bit

Memory Bandwidth: 448GB/s

Internal Storage: Custom 825GB SSD

IO Throughput: 5.5GB/s (Raw), Typical 8-9GB/s (Compressed)

Expandable Storage: NVMe SSD Slot

External Storage: USB HDD Support

Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray Drive

The countdown and music was a nice touch.

If you are like me and somewhat technically ignorant, the main gist of the talk was as follows:

The loading time and processing power will be one-hundred times faster than the PS4.

In theory all PS4 games will be backwards compatible in time but the top 100 titles should be on release, however this will be done on a case by case basis.

All PS4 titles will be graphically boosted, much like PS4-PS4 Pro, but the difference will be pretty extreme compared to the original game.

Every aspect of the console will be far superior to anything the current consoles have to offer.

Overall in some areas the Xbox-X outstrips the PS5 specs, but as they are so similar, there is much to look forward to. We are entering the next generation and hopefully it will blow our minds. 

Death Stranding Gets a Photomode and a PC release

Shot by Photography.black_and_white

Death Stranding is a truly unique gaming experience from the warped and brilliant mind of Hideo Kojima. There aren't many rockstars of the industry in this day and  age, but I think Kojima certainly qualifies. Death Stranding wasn't just one of the best games from 2019, but also deserves to be held as a game changer of its generation. It may not be for everyone but it is like no other game that has come before it, bridging the gap between gaming and cinema, in a surreal and twisted journey of a delivery man just doing his job.  Stunning, heart-breaking and an emotional roller coaster, Death Stranding has created shock waves that I hope never settle. Hopefully much like what I said about Hellblade in my other article, this will bring with it a dawn of new experimental, more artistic game development. 

Shot by Leonardoxangel

The good news is PC gamers will see Death Stranding land on the 2nd of June. Hideo Kojima has teased that the game also will boast a new photo mode, the absence of which caused PS4 users much frustration. This did not prevent the explosion of virtual photography content on social media. Clearly, you can take the photo mode from the game but you can't take the photographer out of the gamer.  Throughout this article you will see photographers shots of the game, both screenshots from cut scenes and in game shots. Of course there are those that refuse to shoot from cut scenes and claim it is not art. I am not here to debate that, just to embrace the beautiful creativity of the hobby. Each to their own. I believe whatever gives someone inspiration and drive to shoot new things and experiment with edits is a great thing.

Shot by Photography.black_and_white

Never fear though those of you that have the game on the PS4. Kojima himself hinted that it could also be coming to the PS4 in the form of an update.  The video he shared allows you to pan around a frozen scene, play with the aperture, change the levels of exposure, contrast, use filters, remove Sam from the shot and even change little BB's expressions and poses! The first virtual baby model!

Shot by Leonardoxangel

Steam and the Epic Games Store will both see the arrival of the PC version on the 2nd of June. Complete with the usual host of pre-order content. Unreleased soundtracks, a digital art book as well as different skins for things in game. If you'd prefer the steelbook edition, it contains all the same content but a slightly higher price margin. 

Shot by Photography.black_and_white