Sony Santa Monica Studio Developing Unannounced Open World Game?

Santa Monica, a studio wholly owned by SCEA, has posted a job listing on gamasutra.com, looking for a Senior Combat Designer and a Level Designer for an open world game. Maybe a new IP for the PS4? Surely not an open world God of War? What are your thoughts?

Happy Gaming, My-kal | Twitter: Mykal_uk / PSN: My-kal_UK

Sony Confirms Over 100 Vita Games This Year, The Walking Dead is One of Them

Some interesting Vita News coming from IGN today reveals that the Vita will be having a confirmed 100 games to release on it this year. Don Mesa, PlayStation’s director of product planning and platform software innovation was having a chat with them and shared a few interesting facts like the console has an 86% “satisfaction rate” among gamers. Also, 90% of PS Vita owners play their system “on a regular basis,” which is once a week. He also said Vita owners use their portable console 18.7 hours per week.

Mesa talked about Vita games that are yet to be announced, stating that it has “got some [games] in the works that I can’t talk about right now. There are games that [Sony] Worldwide Studios guys are building that are… going to be very interesting and innovative, but to give it away too early… we’re always worried about copycats.”

Don Mesa has also revealed that The Walking Dead from Telltale will be coming to the PlayStation Vita, although no information on a release date or whether the second season will be making an appearance on the Vita.

Sony Sending Out More $10 Vouchers?

There’s murmurings on the Internet that Sony is giving away even more $10 vouchers for your PSN/SEN. Can anyone that’s part of our community confirm this?

Apparently if you’ve already received a voucher last month, don’t expect one this month.

It’s interesting to know Sony’s motives behind this, I mean, if it’s just a ploy to get you to buy the PS4, surely these ‘loyal’ customers would be getting it anyway?

Thoughts in the comments as always,

Happy Gaming, My-kal | Twitter: Mykal_uk - PSN: My-kal_UK

PlayStation Plus: March Content for Europe

So, amid all of the PS4 madness, Sony has announced Europe’s PS+ Content update, and it’s pretty neat!

- Kicking it off is Dead or Alive 5 (see what I did there? )
- Secondly on the PS3 side of the game is Joe Danger 2
- But then there’s the showpiece: Mass Effect 3!

- On the Vita, Puddle a game that must have dribbled under my radar (BOOM! two in a row )

… And finally, MGS HD Collection!

You can always head over to PS.Blog for the full rundown, but Sony just aren’t as entertaining, right.. Right?

So what do you all think? I’m particularly interested in you gamers from across the pond (US!) as I agree… The US’s updates have been pretty lackluster in comparison the last couple of months.

Thoughts in the comments as always,

Happy Gaming,

My-kal.

Playstation Vita Price Cut In Japan

Sony Japan has just announced that the Playstation Vita will receive a nice price cut in there market and it will take effect from February 28th. Sony announced that both the 3G/Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi-only models are to cost ¥19,980 (around $215). That’s is a 20% drop from the launch price of the Wi-Fi only model, and a 34% drop for the 3G/Wi-Fi model.

There is still no word if this price cut will come to other regions but i guess will find out on the 20th.

Rumor: New PS Vita SKU, PS Vita “Price Cut”

So if you’re no newcomer to gaming, then you know it is one of the most rumor-filled facets of entertainment.  The newest rumor concerns a recent patent Sony has filed for the PlayStation Vita, as well as some changes and a “price cut.”   Hit the jump to learn more…

Read more

The Playstation Vita: Bridging the Gap In a Relationship

The PlayStation Vita was to become Sony’s next generation portable, and like many gamers as myself, I was amazed by the beautiful OLED screen, the console like quality in the games, and the functionality it possessed. I knew that I had to have one, day one, no exceptions. Unlike me, my girlfriend was not a gamer, yet she supported my passion for gaming, and was right alongside me when I lined up at midnight to make my purchase. She never understood the gaming culture, and the power it has on its consumers, still she supported me, and showed an interest in this device that I desired.

Like all relationships, we have our hard times, but we love each other for who we are, and what we enjoy. One thing about our relationship that is very different than most is the fact that she lives back in my hometown in Texas, and I attend the university of Oklahoma, about a 2 and a half hour drive apart. This distance apart has made things extremely difficult at times. The inability to simply drive down the street and pick her up, hold her after an argument, and surprise her with gifts is a struggle that most couples could not endure, yet our love for each other has held us together, along with the help from the Playstation Vita.

Read more

PS Webstore To Get Remote Downloads, PS3/Vita Integrated PayPal, Sony “Looking Into” Store App

So the PlayStation Webstore has finally released today in North America, and it is pretty darn nice, providing a nice, quick interface and some account management, along with PayPal payment options without even having to turn on a PlayStation device.

There are some questions raised for this new webstore, and these comments were instantly brought to the Official PlayStation Blog comments section. Kristine Steimer was nice enough to answer some questions (including mine!) about the future of the PlayStation store, and its integration with PS3, Vita, and even other devices.

Automatic Remote Downloads – The ability to buy something on the webstore and then have it start instantly downloading on your PS3/Vita console when you turn it on is not a feature yet, you still have to go in the Store app, OR go to account management (which is much easier) and find your downloads there, but promises of “automatic remote downloads” are seen in the main news post for the webstore and in the comments section, Sony says to “stay tuned” for details on that.

PayPal Integration on PS3/Vita – PayPal is now a way to add funds to your wallet… only on the webstore, the PS3 and Vita do not have this functionality yet, but fear not, because I raised this question, and Kristine kindly answered, “That is something we’re working on, but no ETA yet.” So, good to know that’s coming, hopefully sooner than later!

Dedicated PlayStation Store App – This is also something that is also wanted from PSN gamers, and I asked if we would also be seeing an Official PlayStation Store come to places like iOS, Android, Windows 8, etc and Kristine said, “We know this is something that folks want, and it’s something we are looking into. Nothing to really discuss at this time, however.” – So who knows with this one right now, at least it’s being looked into though.

So there you go, it’s nice to have a webstore and great to see Sony adding some cool stuff down the line.

PSN’s Trophy System Seriously Needs Some Work

The wonderful world of gaming milestones and awards. Microsoft started with Achievements on the Xbox, and then Sony added in their take to the rewards system on their console a couple years later – trophies. Both of which have swept the gaming community in the past few years, they make you play harder, complete more, compete more, and just simply get more money out of your game. Both are fantastic, but both also really need some work, Xbox gamers out there can probably relate to this article quite a bit, but I’m only going to focus on PlayStation’s Trophy system since it’s by favorite awards system, since I personally know trophies inside and out, from top to bottom. I know how achievements work, but I don’t know every little, tiny official nook and cranny that Microsoft may or may not have with the system, so to avoid confusion or mistakes regarding the achievement system, that’s why.

The title of this article may shock you, because the trophy system is honestly a very well built system that has had some nice improvements over the year, and it is my favorite system over all consoles for many reasons, but in all honesty, it is actually hugely limited as to what it could actually do, what I envision it to be one day. If you find the trophy and achievement systems on Microsoft and Sony’s official consoles to be the best that they can be right now, then I really advise you to read this article. I used to think they couldn’t add much more to the trophy system than it has already, but then I started thinking…

Read more

Playstation Network Back Online

After a few delays, The PlayStation Network has finally come back online and you can access anything you like once again. PlayStation announced it on their official twitter a few hours ago.