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During their Press Announcement today, Sony took a brief moment to remind their fans that their augmented reality experiment, The Playroom, will be pre-installed on every PS4.
While the Playroom is nothing new to us – the idea was revealed in their E3 conference earlier this year – the reminder rung to me as an unfortunate example of shooting yourself in the foot. You see, the concept of the Playroom is to use your Playstation Eye to create an augmented reality experience on your console, connecting you to other players through a virtual playroom. By sensing the controller’s lightbar and using other features exclusive to the console, a Wii Sports-style experience can be played. However, Sony announced just several weeks ago that to cut the cost of purchasing the console at launch, The PlayStation 4 Eye camera will NOT be included with all consoles.
Reminding your next customers that your console will include a feature that they can’t even use without purchasing an optional accessory – as well as failing to provide said accessory when much of the console’s unique new abilities rely on it – smacks of a fail to me. Disagree? Let us know in the comments.
In a very brief announcement today (consisting of nothing more than a single line of script, a flash of the logo and a few people walking past with Creeper masks covering their heads), Sony confirmed during their Gamescon press announcement that Minecraft will get an official port for the Playstation 4.
Following the announcement, creator Markus “Notch” Persson took to Twitter to confirm the game will be heading to the PS4, but additionally confirmed PS3 and Vita ports as well:
Maps! Modes! Levolution! Premium! More ridiculous remixes of the Battlefield theme! It was an info barrage as DICE shot visual bullets into the face of Gamescom attendees, finishing off the EA conference more revelations about their FPS sequel. In fairness, many of those announcements could have been predicted by those well versed in recent history. Most notably that Battlefield 4 will, like Battlefield 3 before it, offer an optional Premium upgrade, given early access to the five planned DLC packs.
Here’s what DICE have in store for Premium members:
Battlefield 4 Second Assault – Includes four fan-favorite Battlefield 3™ maps now re-imagined with the power of Frostbite™ 3. Available first on Xbox One.
Battlefield 4 China Rising – Players fight for dominance across the vast and majestic Chinese mainland. Available December 2013.
Battlefield 4 Naval Strike – Experience dynamic ocean combat as the Chinese armada takes the fight to the sea. Available Spring 2014.
Battlefield 4 Dragon’s Teeth – The US strikes back engaging in all-out urban warfare. Available Summer 2014.
Battlefield 4 Final Stand – Bring the war to its epic conclusion. Available Summer 2014.
Two-weeks early access to all expansion packs for that competitive edge
Unique personalization options including camos, paints, emblems, dogtags and more
Priority position in server queues
New content every week
12 bonus Battlefield 4 Battlepacks
DICE also announced the game’s beta, which will launch in early October, just a few weeks before the game’s full release.
Then, finally, as our brains were near bursting from fact overload, we were treated to a visual tease of the Paracel Storm map:
The future is distorted bass being fired into your eardrums forever.
Battlefield 4 is released in October 29th in North America, and October 31st in Europe.
Command & Conquer will receive a campaign mode update in 2014, EA announced today. Missions will roll out early next year, and are coming as a result of fan feedback following the removal of C&C’s story in 2012.
The first Campaign Missions will follow the Asia-Pacific Alliance (APA), as they attempt to stabilize a world that once again teeters on the brink of war. Having sat comfortably as the world’s foremost geopolitical power for nearly a decade, the APA finds itself challenged on all fronts. The upstart European Union (EU), a high-tech, single-state entity with an increasingly expansionist agenda continues to flex her muscles, while a series of increasingly bloody uprisings have torn key APA and EU satellite nations asunder. Rumors point to a newly reconstituted Global Liberation Army (GLA) as the instigator, but witnesses have described technology far beyond the reach of any normal terrorist organization. Concerned, the APA dispatches an elite force to infiltrate the latest, most volatile rebellion, one targeting an EU backed dictator. Their mission – learn the truth about the GLA, undermine the EU and restore peace to the globe.
I have to say, I am really looking forward to this! C&C has been rather disappointing over the last few years, but hopefully this will finally bring us a C&C game we can be proud to play.
