PCGamesN Monday, May 27, 2024 3:00 AM  I'm not the kind of player who throws his controllers when he gets frustrated, but there have been a few notable games that have brought me close: Dark Souls' battle with Knight Artorias, the ice caverns in Spelunky, and several of the later bosses in The Binding of Isaac have had me momentarily at the brink of hurling my gamepad into some nearby drywall. The Rogue Prince of Persia is the latest entry to this list - it's one of those tough-as-nails roguelike games that starts off feeling impenetrable, but gradually lodges its hooks into you until you are helpless against the call of one more run. Continue reading The Rogue Prince of Persia early access review - Cute and deadly |
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Siliconera Monday, May 27, 2024 5:00 AM
In May 2024, Sony London Studio formally closed. We'd known about closure for a few weeks, of course, but now the developer has issued a final statement, marking the end of an era. It also means the PlayStation brand, as a whole, will be less interesting with London Studio gone.
London Studio were not necessarily the first studio people thought of when it came to PlayStation. They were not as big as the likes of Naughty Dog, Guerrilla or Santa Monica Studio. But their impact on Sony's gaming identity should not be downplayed. Their history is full of projects that were ahead of their time and made PlayStation an exciting place to be.
Let's start with The Getaway. While not technically developed by London Studio, its developers Team Soho were its precursor, and it already showed signs of what we'd expect from the team over the years. The Getaway was ambitious. The team attempted to make an interactive gangster movie for the PS2, with maximum immersion in mind. This meant finding innovative ways to remove HUD elements and communicate information to the player through the world itself. Quest markers were replaced with the blinkers on your car. Damage would show on the main character through wounds and clothing damage. While Dead Space continues to be praised for its attempts to integrate its UI into its universe, The Getaway was attempting the same thing six years before.
It wasn't the only time London Studio beat the rest of the industry to the punch. They were the lead developers tasked with making games that showed off Sony's EyeToy peripheral. This camera predated not only Kinect but also the Wii, bringing casual motion control to the masses. Games like EyeToy: Play were primitive and casual, but they showed Sony's desire to experiment with tech to create new experiences.
It's something London Studio would continue to do until their final days. They worked extensively on the PlayStation Home service for the PS3, creating a virtual space for players to hang out in. With the PS4, their work shifted to VR, where they showcased the capabilities of the PS VR headset with PlayStation VR Worlds. The critical acclaim of its London Heist section led to the full game Blood & Truth, which combined their tech experimentation with the gangster movie inspirations of The Getaway, resulting in critical and commercial success.
London Studio's greatest achievement had to be SingStar. Once again predating the rhythm game boom that would dominate the later half of the 2000s, SingStar turned the PS2 into a gamified karaoke machine. It was a huge hit, with multiple titles produced for the PS2 and continuing long into the PS3's lifespan. I personally have fond memories of playing this with friends, where most of the group were put to shame by the one person who'd previously had singing lessons. Which was definitely not me.
These are all major contributions to PlayStation history. London Studio were out there doing weird, interesting stuff that made the platform much more exciting and innovative. It's similar to Sony's closure of Japan Studio. Not a studio producing blockbusters, but they were out there making games like Ape Escape, Patapon and Gravity Rush. Quirky, offbeat projects that did something unique and exciting, all shuffled away. The loss of Japan Studio made PlayStation less interesting, and reduced interest with the Japanese audience. The loss of London Studio is likely to be felt in a similar way.
The closure is also sad because of how much it further contracts PlayStation's UK presence. While I admit I am a little biased due to being British myself, UK studios played a major role in Sony's first-party output in the early days. The WipEout series from Studio Liverpool and MediEvil from Cambridge Studio were both beloved PS1 games and helped shaped PlayStation as a platform. Those studios are both long gone now, and with London Studio now closing, it leaves a barren landscape for Sony's UK presence. All we have left are support studios for Horizon and Media Molecule. Even then, that studio is in a precarious position following the closure of Dreams, and if that gets shut down, I'm going into mourning for at least a month.
The closure of London Studio represents a further reduction of what PlayStation is and the kind of games Sony are willing to put out into the world. It's increasingly less willing to invest in the smaller, less obvious games. The kind of games that do something unique and off the beaten track. Games that are just playful for the sake of it. The only place that Sony have seemed willing to release a project of this kind this generation has been Astro's Playroom. A pack-in title. From four years ago.
In place of these kinds of games, it's more of the same kinds of cinematic game and an abundance of live services. Sure, the live service investment might make sense after Helldivers 2 proved so successful, but at the same time, that success was an organic one that grew out of investment in smaller projects. After all, Helldivers 2 doesn't exist without the first Helldivers, which was a low budget top-down shooter that quietly launched directly to PSN. If the focus had been all big budget all the time in 2014, Sony simply wouldn't have their breakout hit now.
As much as I love a lot of Sony's current games, I have to admit they're starting to blend together. In the PS2 era, Santa Monica Studio put out a series of brawlers, Naughty Dog were making open world platformers with vehicles, Guerilla were attempting to build their own so-called "Halo killer" and Sucker Punch were adding stealth to cartoony 3D platformers. Today, all four studios are making cinematic, realistically styled action adventures. The playfulness that London Studio represented is gone, replaced by meticulous renderings of facial hair and Neil Druckmann wanting to replace creative input with AI.
London Studio was representative of a part of Sony and the PlayStation identity that is now lost. The company might have saved some money with the closure, but overall, I feel the PlayStation brand just became poorer.
The post The Closure of London Studio Makes PlayStation Less Interesting appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Monday, May 27, 2024 12:00 AM
On May 25-26, 2024, Dokibird hosted a Vtuber WrestleTuber 2024 event with indie Vtubers, as well as people from Holostars English, VShojo, Idol Corp, Phase Connect, and the winner ended up being last minute invader Unnamed. This happened in the final seconds, following Gavis Bettel managing to sweep the competition and beat Filian in what ended up not being the final match. Dokibird also confirmed the event will return next year.
WrestleTuber 2024 included a number of surprises in addition to Gavis Bettel initially beating out the other Vtubers before being toppled by Unnamed. Before activities took place, Nana Asteria dropped a diss track song to intimidate her first opponent, Jurard T. Rexford. On the first day of the event, Mint Fantome appeared as a surprise caster alongside Dokibird. In addition, on the second day of the event Matara Kan appeared as a last-minute entrant and faced off against Mint.
Here is Nana Asteria's WrestleTuber 2024 song.
You can catch replay of the first day of WrestleTuber 2024 below. As a reminder, all of the participants either made or had wrestlers made for them. AI then controlled them in WWE 2K24 matches. Dokibird noted that Gamer Supps paid for the event.
Here's the second day of WrestleTuber 2024, which included Matara's appearance, Gavis Bettel's brief win, and Vtuber Unnamed coming in to steal the championship belt in the final minutes.
WrestleTuber 2025 will appear next year, though Dokibird didn't announce dates for it yet.
The post Unnamed Wins Dokibird's Vtuber WrestleTuber 2024, 2025 Event Confirmed appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Sunday, May 26, 2024 11:30 PM
Japanese Demon Slayer fans have taken to X (Twitter) to complain about a political news alert appearing during the newest episode of the anime. According to reports online, there were two alerts that appeared during the episode, with one of them being an earthquake alert and the other being the political one in question.
The alert appeared during a very climatic part of the episode. In a screenshot that Jeffrey J. Hall has shared on X (Twitter), we can see the alert banner on a scene in which Tanjiro is desperately training with a wooden sword. The alert states that opposition-backed candidate Yasutomo Suzuki is sure to win the Shizuoka election.
To be very specific, while Suzuki won the election and became the next governor of Shizuoka Prefecture, the alert's announcement is not that. It uses the term "tousen kakujitsu," which means that Suzuki was projected to win at the time of the alert. He had not won yet.
Looking up "Kimetsu alert" on X (Twitter) garners many results, with most of them negative. A lot of fans were angry that a political alert appeared during Demon Slayer and noted that since they were recording the episode for later, the alert appeared in the recording as well. A user pointed out that a lot of people complaining are probably really young, but it's a good thing that the government isn't able to leverage anime or video games to stir political interest or sway anyone's beliefs. Some ask why these alerts aren't restricted to news channels or NHK.
Demon Slayer is readily available to watch on services like Crunchyroll.
The post Japanese Fans Furious at Demon Slayer Political Alert appeared first on Siliconera. |
PC Invasion - FeedDDD Monday, May 27, 2024 1:40 AM  Don't expect every quest to just be handed to you. Here is how to start the De-Hoochief, A Quest of Wits, and Messenger side quests in Wuthering Waves. Wuthering Waves: How to start De-Hoochief, A Quest of Wits, and Messenger side quests The De-Hoochief, A Quest of Wits, and Messenger side quests appear in the Wuthering Waves map once you have unlocked the Resonance Nexus in the Dim Forest and they are located just next to the Huanglong-Dim Forest-Wenye Beach Resonance Beacon. Yes, these names keep getting better and longer. You might find it easier by just traveling south from Jinzhou city. Remember that side quests unlock after completing the Ominous Star main quest. Screenshot: PC Invasion Anyway, once you arrive at the zone by just walking to their location, you will notice there are no NPCs around for you to interact with. This is because all three of these side quest starter NPCs are underground. If you take a look at the area, you will notice an opening which y... |
PC Invasion - FeedDDD Monday, May 27, 2024 12:58 AM  A shiny companion will join you for a short time and it won't bother you every five seconds with phrases like "Hey, listen!" or "Watch out!" Here is how to unlock the Huanglong-Whining Aix's Mire Resonance Beacon in Wuthering Waves. Wuthering Waves: How to unlock Huanglong-Whining Aix's Mire Resonance Beacon The Huanglong-Whining Aix's Mire Resonance Beacon not only has a name that you will probably never forget, but it is also one that is locked behind a puzzle. It is located southeast of the Poirt Gunchao Resonance Nexus, which is the southmost part of Solaris-3 – e.g. the world where Wuthering Waves takes place. All you need to do is use a Corroder to unlock it, but let's explain it a bit further. Screenshot: PC Invasion Similarly to some other Resonance Beacons like the one at the Corroded Ruins – which is secluded below the ground -, will have you perform a specific task to register it. You see, this Res... |