Sony

In the new PS3 apocalyptic survival game “The Last of Us,” an unlikely pair of survivors wanders through a future ravaged by zombie-like creatures. Joel is hired to smuggle a 14-year-old girl, Ellie, out of a quarantine zone, but their personalities clash as they traverse the once-familiar terrain of Boston, which has become all plant life and crumbling buildings. For months, the Naughty Dog title, overseen by Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley (2009’s hit “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves”) has been generating intense interest among gamers, not simply for its sleek visuals or its end-of-the world action. What’s setting the game apart is the way it attempts to build intimate character moments between its two leads. “If a player doesn’t feel that a bond between Joel and Ellie has been formed, then we have failed,” said creative director Druckmann. Due this […]

The price of the PlayStation Vita has plunged at some Sony stores. Joystiq reports a price of $199.97 for the 3G-compatible version, after the head of Sony Worldwide Studios said last month that such a drop was not in the works. The gamer blog has a list of eligible stores. This might be a great bargain for those looking for a “gamer’s gaming console.” The review last year on the Los Angeles Times’ Tech Now blog praised the device — saying that, with traditional controls combined with new smartphone-type technology, it provided “a gaming experience that is found on no other single device.” Prices just a year ago stacked up this way:  The Vita was priced at $249 in a Wi-Fi-only version or $299 for a 3G/Wi-Fi model that ran on AT&T’s network. AT&T offered no-contract data plans for the […]

Sony Santa Monica will release a patch that alters a controversial trophy in the upcoming “God of War: Ascension” game after critics claimed it was misogynist and condoned violence against women. The questionable trophy is awarded after a scene in which the game’s antihero protagonist Kratos is compelled to brutally attack a female villain, one of three Furies. After the attack, the player receives a trophy titled “Bros Before Hos.” The patch, which will be pushed out alongside the PlayStation exclusive game when it is released Tuesday, changes the trophy’s title to “Bros Before Foes,” Sony Santa Monica told the gaming blog Joystiq. Players will be prompted to download the patch when the game is inserted into an Internet-connected PS3. “We have created and will soon push out a patch for ‘God of War: Ascension’ that alters the title of […]

It’s nearly been a week since Sony partly lifted the veil on its long-awaited PlayStation 4 with a lengthy demonstration of some of the hardware and games expected to land in stores by the end of the year. Now Sony has released even more details about the console and upcoming titles. Although no one but Sony knows what the PS4′s console actually will look like or how much the PS4 will sell for, several fan concerns have been addressed. The PS4 will not require an Internet connection to play games, a worry among fans who have observed the creeping ubiquity of digital rights management and online passes. In the same vein, the PS4 will not block used games. DRM is a blanket term for a variety of measures to limit the use of devices or content after the point of […]

PS4 is finally here. Sony delivered its next-generation console plans to the world Wednesday, debuting the PlayStation 4 during an event in New York City. Broadcast worldwide, with an admittedly shaky feed, Sony spoke about its new hardware, new games and new plans for the future. The event ultimately lasted about two hours, and there remains much to dissect. So let’s run through the biggest announcements, and absences, from Sony’s major conference. Release date: At the very end of the event, Sony revealed a vague launch window for the console — “Holiday 2013.” Whether that means October or December remains to be seen, but at least there’s confirmation that the PS4 will launch this year. Controllers: Remarkably similar to the leaked prototypes reported on by The Times last week, the new Dualshock 4 controllers have a touchscreen in the center, […]

NEW YORK — Promising “the most personalized gaming experience,” Sony Computer Entertainment unveiled its next generation PlayStation 4 console at an anticipated event Wednesday, boasting a console with more power, faster response time, higher performance, better playability and the increased mobility to “take gaming out of the living room.” Sony executives and game designers — via videotaped messages — discussed statistics and showed how the new game controller uses “cloud” processes to bring gamers a heightened experience and better facilitate game-sharing. The executives said Sony had just green-lighted a program to build the world’s fastest gaming network. This would fulfill the promise, the game designers said, of zero lag time and zero startup time with the new device. PHOTOS: 13 must-have games in 2013 Unconfirmed reports had put the price point for the new game console at around $429. The […]

Sony is expected to release details of a new PlayStation 4, a long-awaited entry in its line of home consoles, today at 3 p.m. PST / 6 p.m. EST.  The news to be revealed — any release date, controller or games — is still up in the air, though that hasn’t stopped leaks and rumors as anticipation of the announcement has grown. Tune into the stream above for Sony’s live announcement. Among the speculation is that the system will launch by the end of the year, the controller will feature a touch-enabled screen, the initial price will be around $400, and it will feature extensive mobile integration. The questions are many. Will anticipated PS3 games such as “The Last Guardian” and “Final Fantasy Versus XIII,” long kept in the dark and speculated to have been shelved, reemerge as PS4 titles? […]

The Sony Playstation used to be the new kid on the block. It was an inexperienced newcomer when it tried to break into the world of video-game consoles, a world long dominated by Nintendo and Sega. But in time it came to dominate the market and led to the world’s longtime go-to console: the Playstation 2. And though the brand has lost ground to Microsoft and Nintendo with the Playstation 3, Sony is looking to reverse its fortunes Wednesday with the expected unveiling of its Playstation 4. Speculation about the system, code-named “Orbis,” has reached a frenzy, with rumors of controllers housing screens, a $399 price point, a new streaming service and more spreading across the Internet. It remains to be seen if Sony can maintain the Playstation’s rampant success as Microsoft prepares its own announcement about its next-generation offering, and […]

Is Sony set to unveil a new video game console this month? The company invited journalists to attend a PlayStation meeting on Feb. 20 in New York, and though speculation abounds, it is believed that Sony is poised to present its successor to the PlayStation 3. Sony also released what appears to be a teaser for the console on a new website where gamers can sign up to “be the first to know.” Though the 44-second video (watch it above) features sleek lines and laser-y sparks, it offers little in the way of detail. The New York gathering will be the first major PlayStation meeting in more than two years — the last being the January 2011 unveiling of the prototype for the PlayStation Vita handheld console. The PlayStation 3, which has sold more than 70 million units, launched in […]

Pick almost any year since 2005 in cinema, and it can pretty safely be labeled the year of the superhero. In much the same way, video games have been celebrating the year of the first-person shooter genre for at least half a decade. Despite the glut, not many of those gaming titles can make you cry, but “The Unfinished Swan” just might. The latter is from the perspective of a 9-year-old boy, one who just lost his mother and wants to make his father proud. His weapon? A magic paintbrush. It’s a moving narrative that is just one small part of a shifting conversation on the gaming landscape. Ever since Nintendo’s 2006 console the Wii and the explosion of the mobile and tablet gaming sector penetrated the market, the race has changed. Titles such as Telltale’s “The Walking Dead,” Thatgamecompany’s […]