While the PS4 might be setting records for the rapid pace in which each console is being bought in the UK, over in America it appears it’s a whole ‘nother story entirely. According to research by market research firm InfoScout, which surveyed purchases of consoles in several retail outlets across USA up to and including Black Friday, Microsoft consoles are being overwhelmingly favoured by the American gamer:

According to their survey, both Xbox consoles dominated sales on Friday, jointly accounting for 61% of the console market. The PlayStation 4, meanwhile, achieves a creditable third place with exactly half the XBox One sales – 15% compared to 31% – although it should be noted that the PS4 came in much more limited supplies compared to the XBox One.

A perhaps more interesting statistic from the survey is that so far, sales of both new generation consoles are keeping pace with their predecessors, with the PS3 just outselling the PS4 by a very small margin; while the XBox One only manages a 1% margin above the older 360. Continued sales of the older consoles are to be expected early in a new console’s launch, but the closeness of the statistics suggest there are still a lot of people seeing life in the now-older generation consoles yet; and feel like giving them a chance over their younger, so far less established successors…

…Though, with 80% of the surveyed claiming that they bought the console with the intention to “gift” it, it could also be that some Americans just wanted to save cash on what should still be viewed as a powerful, exciting present for the young (or young at heart) ones.

As expected, today it’s been confirmed that the PlayStation 4 has become the fastest-selling console in the UK history.

Chart-Track has announced that PS4 surpassed PSP’s sales record of 185,000 units sold at launch, although no concrete figures for the PS4 have been announced.

We expect that we may hear of a few more broken records for PS4 before the day is out.

Congratulations to Sony and the PS4.

During Minecon this year one if the biggest announcements to emerge was the news of a partnership between Mojang and Twitch, which would result in a forthcoming update that would bring integration with the popular game streaming site to the blocky sandbox game. A few days ago the snapshot update with this very feature was released.

Linking to your Twitch account is done through the settings menu for your account on the Mojang website. From the snapshot it appears that you are able to mess with the streaming settings in-game before you start streaming. Recording stops and starts with the press of a single key (default bound to F6 but you can bind the on/off switch to a key of your choice) and a little red circular light appears in the top-right hand corner to let you know that your stream is live and people will be able to see you. The twitch chat also appears in the Minecraft textbox so you can see what your viewers are talking about and talk back to them (sound integration also works as I and my handful of test viewers found out).

Obviously, being a snapshot there are still a few bugs to iron out. For example there are a few frame rate issues (although as you’re streaming some of that is to be expected) and when you pull up your Esc menu all the in-game audio completely stops, mobs and in-game music, and then resumes where it’d stopped when you click out of the menu. Since none of this is game-breaking though this doesn’t stop me looking forward to the full proper release of this new Minecraft update.

A trailer has just been released onto the channel of those who work for Mojang as trailer makers for all the updates and releases Mojang put out for Minecraft. It shows off an extension for the Xbox 360 version of the game which is coming soon.

The extension, called the Skyrim Mash Up, showcases some brief glimpses of how the extension will change the Minecraft game in ways to resemble the fifth Elder Scrolls game including NPCs, maps with pre-built towns and villages and mobs reskinned to resemble the Skyrim creatures (for example the Endermen now seem to resemble the Giants). The trailer also boasts that the extension will feature the soundtrack of Skyrim, have provisions to save Skyrim worlds and other things besides.

No word on a release date quite yet, but we’ll bring you updates when more information emerges. For now, watch the trailer below.

Yesterday, Sony’s cloud-based solution to playing Playstation Vita games – as well as past and (some) present Playstation console games – on your TV became a reality when the PlayStation Vita TV launched in Japan. In case you haven’t been following it, the Vita TV is a miniaturised “micro” console that connects to your TV via HDMI; and is primarily intended to allow you to play games from the Playstation Vita hand-held console on the big screen, but is also capable of playing some other titles available on the PSN Store as well.

Some committed gamers have already imported the Japanese console, but trying it out has revealed a roadblock. While the Vita TV does not appear to be region-locked – despite only being launched in Japan, some non-Japanese region games are available on the console already and appear to be perfectly playable – users who have attempted to sign in to the console using a PSN account registered outside of Japan have been unable to get in, with the console reporting “This service is not available in your country/region”. It appears right now, only Japanese PSN accounts can login to the console – and this also applies to the games, with the console refusing to play games bought from Western accounts even if the title is supported. It’s assumed the Vita TV to PSN compatibility, like the console itself, has only been launched in Japan so far, so this situation may change when launches are made to other Asian regions next year.

Thankfully, thanks to sources like Kotaku, we have been able to see how the console works to users who have been able to access it. Setting up the console is, apparently, an identical process to that on the Vita itself, with a short series of screens asking you to choose your language (English is supported already), enter your location, set the clock and give your PSN login credentials if you so wish. Once this is done, games can be sent to the console by downloading them from the Playstation Store; while you can grab your Save files by plugging in the Vita Memory Stick with the saves you want to use or, if you’re a Playstation Plus subscriber, pulling them from your PS+ Cloud.

What games? Sony have an official list on their Japanese website of compatible PS Vita games, which at time of writing lists 153 different titles. Interestingly, while some of these titles are big-name games, a far greater number are smaller affairs such as bargain-bin puzzlers or titles intended as study tools for Japanese school kids. Also, some of the supported titles, like Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster, are currently unreleased – planning for the future, Sony? However, while the console currently only plays compatible games bought on Japanese PSN Accounts, non-Japanese titles are supported if they’re available on the Japanese PSN Store, such as the North American Lumines Electronic Symphony. It seems Sony are serious with the list of “compatible” games, as if you try to load a game the Vita TV does not yet support, Vita TV will not be able to start it at all.

If 153 titles seems a bit paltry to you right now, you may be pleased to know that the Vita TV is also able to play games from the original Playstation Portable (PSP) console as well as classic games from the very first PlayStation (PS1) home console, as long as those games are available for download from the PSN Store. This expands the collection of games currently available to thousands, if you don’t mind a little nostalgia. More titles will likely be added over time.

Controlling the games on the console is possible through connecting a PS Vita to the Vita TV; or by using a DualShock 3 controller – the DualShock 4 controllers available for the PS4 are not yet supported, but a software patch in the future will change this. One problem with this approach is the DualShock 3 has no touch controls like the PS Vita or the newer controllers, but many of the games that will be available on the Vita TV expect some sort of touch-screen input. Thankfully Sony have thought about this – sorry Wikipedia, your claim that “certain games are not compatible with PS Vita TV, such as those that are dependent on the system’s touch-screen, rear touchpad…” has just been proven false – through touch-screen emulation.

The Vita TV contains a virtual touch screen, which can be enabled in the console’s Options menu. When enabled, pressing R3 or L3 turns the thumbsticks into mouse pointers which you can use to “touch” the screen. Pressing R3 gives you two pointers for the front panel, L3 gives two for the back, and both R3 and L3 at the same time gives you two cursors pressing front and back at the same time. Some games have to be patched to support this feature – but if so, the Vita TV will make you aware of this and offer to automatically download the patch before you play.

Currently, there is no news for a Western launch of Vita TV – but we’d be surprised if it never happened. Stay tuned!