Is this the end of PlayStation? It’s always easy to get apocalyptic in situations like this, but it’s obviously not. Sony’s gaming division remains a wildly popular brand globally, and no single publisher can ever detract from that. Make no mistake, though, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $70 billion is a blow of unprecedented scale – this isn’t just a haymaker or a right hook, it’s the manufacturer slumped against the ropes, blood dripping from its mouth, while it desperately gasps for air.
You might not like Call of Duty or any of Activision Blizzard’s other games, but you need to understand this: every year, the publisher’s first-person shooter is one of the biggest games on PlayStation. Call of Duty: Vanguard actually underperformed a little, meaning that in terms of 2021 PS Store sales, it was forced to sit behind FIFA 22 and NBA 2K22 in Europe and North America respectively. But typically, it’s Call of Duty at the top – year in, year out. And all its players contribute enormously to Sony’s bottom line, be it through microtransactions or PS Plus subscriptions.
The whole Kingdom Hearts series is coming to Nintendo Switch on 10th February 2022, with the huge caveat that these are a streamed ‘cloud version’ of all the games. The cloud versions of Kingdom Hearts will (obviously) only be playable with an active and stable internet connection, meaning that you will not be able to take the saga with you on the go (unless you have a good mobile internet solution). This makes a degree of sense of Kingdom Hearts 3, which was designed for and first released on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but makes less sense for Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX or Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. The 1.5 and 2.5 ReMIX remasters first released on PlayStation 3, which the Nintendo Switch should certainly be able to match when playing at 720p. Another bone of contention will be the pricing. Square Enix is charging $40-50 for each release individually, or $90 for the Integrum Masterpiece bundle that includes all three. Despite the games being cloud-based, Square Enix is charging between $39.99 and $49.99 for each of the three releases, with a bundle pack called Integrum Masterpiece costing $89.99. Cloud gaming on Nintendo Switch has become a popular niche for developers and publishers of major AAA games. It’s allowed games like Resident Evil Village and Hitman 3 to come to the system when their demands are in excess of what the Switch is able to do (even when there are a number of ‘miracle’ ports to the plucky handheld). However, there are valid concerns that cloud-based gaming is less permanent than purchasing a game that is playable locally. What happens in a few years time when a company decides that the server upkeep isn’t worthwhile anymore? After almost countless spin-offs and remastered, Square Enix finally wrapped up the series with the release of Kingdom Hearts 3 in 2019 and the DLC that followed. In our Kingdom Hearts 3 review, Jim said “Kingdom Hearts III doesn’t go in the direction some RPG fans will no doubt have been hoping for. It’s unashamedly over the top in just about every way, from its barmy story and stunning presentation to its huge cinematic battles. There’s plenty of depth here too, though you’ll need to find your bearings first.”
Things are afoot in the world of Sony and people are linking two incidents together, both of which involve the PlayStation 3. Firstly, the company posted a revised version of their backwards compatibility patent which uses cycle counters to trick a modern piece of equipment – say a PS5 – in to running the CPU and GPU at the speeds of a PS3. This is not a new idea, Sony filed the original patent back in 2015 and updated it in 2020 so this is just another update. Secondly, the PS5 version of the PlayStation Store has started listing PlayStation 3 games with a price tag rather than redirecting you to PlayStation Now which is what has happened in the past. Uhhh. Not to panic anyone, but a PS3 game shouldn't have a price when viewed on a PS5. Unless… pic.twitter.com/5CTACWGh7s — Jordan Middler (@JordanMiddler) January 16, 2022 Some are suggesting that this is an indication that Sony’s rumoured plans to revamp PlayStation Plus and merge in PlayStation Now, codenamed Spartacus, are close to completion. However, that may not be the case. A user of Twitter has pointed out that the PlayStation Store has had these listing errors many times in the past. Meanwhile over on Reddit a poster has claimed the games are not showing in the German Store where PS Now is available. It does appear that the PS3 games having a price on the PS5 store is a listings bug rather than any indication that backwards compatibility is about to be rolled out. However, the rumours of Sony merging in PS Now to PlayStation Plus in an effort to combat Xbox Game Pass are rather more plausible. Sony have taken a number of approaches to backwards compatibility in the past. The PS3 launched with built in backwards compatibility but it greatly increased the cost and and the ‘phat’ PS3 consoles were soon phased out in favour of a cheaper model that did not include the tech needed to play PS2 games. Sony then posted a patent that essentially repackaging the guts of a PS2 into an attachable doohickey which could then be attached to the PS3. Source: Twitter
Team Fortress 2 has been around for more than a decade. Still, the game is growing, as numbers have recently shown. So, should you download the game once again, or is it a waste of your time and hard drive space? Let’s find out. Review: What Is Team Fortress 2? Is It Worth […]
