#93: Sony Confirms PlayStation 5

Top Story

PlayStation 5 will release in Holiday Season 2020 with notable controller updates

Sony has finally confirmed that PlayStation 5 will launch during holiday season 2020, and revealed some the console’s features in an exclusive interview with Wired.

First off, the controller will feature two new major features: Haptic feedback, essentially more fancy vibration. The vibration motors will have a greater expressive range, enabling more nuanced feedback. Second, the rear triggers will be ‘adaptive’, allowing developers to adjust the triggers’ resistance.

Both these features make the new controllers much more tactile. They will also use USB Type-C for charging. and be a little heavier than the DualShock 4 – but still lighter than an Xbox One controller with batteries inside.

Haptic technology could have been implemented in the PS4 Pro

The Wired article mentions that Sony’s “controller team has been working on haptic feedback since the DualShock 4 was in development. They even could have included it in PS4 Pro”. According to Product Manager Toshi Aoki, the technology was kept for the next-gen console to avoid fragmenting the user base. Take heed, Nintendo!

Unlike the PlayStation 4 Pro, the PlayStation 5 will support 4k blu-ray, and maximum disc capacity is increased from 50GB to 100GB. Mark Cerny also confirmed that “there is ray-tracing acceleration in the GPU hardware”. There will also be new data management tools: “Rather than treating games like a big block of data,” Cerny says, “We’re allowing finer-grained access to the data.”

This means you could install parts of a game depending on what you want to play, say just the single-player campaign or just the multiplayer mode. You can also download a whole package, and later delete parts you don’t expect to use again.

Now that Sony’s finally started talking in more detail about their new console, we can hopefully expect more information soon.

Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?

Rocket League is actually a sequel, but to which game?

• Mutant Fighting Cars League
• Super Soccer Car League
• Super Battle Cars Arena
• Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars

The answer will be revealed at the end of this issue!

News Bits

Rocket League’s Halloween update arrives on October 14th

The Haunted Hallows is returning to Rocket League on October 14th, bringing back the Candy Corn currency and exclusive Halloween-themed items. The update isn’t just about Halloween though, so expect some new features as well. Look out for the new post-game party-up system that allows you to group together with a team you just played a match with.

There are also team-coloured boost meters that make it easier to see which cars are on what team. The developers are also adding quickplay buttons, two new esports teams – Complexity and Spacestation Gaming – as well as giving the news panel a much needed lick of paint.

New MediEvil gameplay compares the original game to the remastered version

MediEvil is rising from its grave once more, and the official PlayStation YouTube channel has released an extensive video showing how the remaster differs from the original game. The most obvious difference is a massive visual update to bring the more than 20 year-old game up to modern standards. Other features, like the camera controls, don’t seem very different from the original – which is as expected, since this is a remaster and not a remake or sequel.

MediEvil Remastered lurches onto the PlayStation 4 on October 25th.

Daily Fact

The Metro games are based on a series of Russian novels

There are three games in the Metro series now – Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light and this year’s Metro Exodus – and it looks like the redux editions of the two first games will launch on Switch soon. This is excellent news, since all the games are exceptionally well-designed shooters oozing with atmosphere featuring imaginative, well-told stories.

Part of the reason the storytelling stand out is their roots in a series of excellent novels by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, who envisioned a post-nuclear world where the remaining residents of Moscow were forced to create an underground society in the Metro tunnels. All three books – Metro 2033, 2034 and 2035 – have been translated into several languages, and are well worth reading whether you’re a fan of the games or not.

While the first and last games adapt the first and last books, 4A Games eschewed Metro 2034 in favour of developing a direct continuation of 2033’s “bad” ending for Last Light – though they did get help from Glukhovsky to write the new story.

Daily News

Bluepoint Games announce secret PlayStation 5 project

Along with news of PlayStation 5’s release date, a recent Wired article also quoted the president of Bluepoint Games, March Thrush, who said “We’re working on a big one right now,” hopefully referring to a game and nothing … untowards.

Bluepoint Games are best known for their work on a slew of PlayStation 4 remasters, including all three Uncharted games, Gravity Rush and Shadow of the Colossus.

Come on Bluepoint, don’t keep us in the dark

Obviously, fans have already started speculating, and one of the big hopes is that it could be a remake of Demon’s Souls. The first game in the Souls series hasn’t received the same attention as its younger brothers in the Dark Souls franchise, and is still only available for PlayStation 3, complete with a 30FPS lock and pretty low-fidelity graphics.

The last two games Bluepoint remastered were Gravity Rush and Shadow of the Colossus, favorites of fans and critics alike, and also quite niche. Unfortunately, we don’t have any more information to go on, so we’re at the mercy of Sony’s slow drip of revelations leading up to the new console’s release in a year’s time.

Metro Redux and Call of Juarez: Gunslinger headed for Switch?

Where would news journalists be without retailers accidentally revealing unannounced games? Now a Portuguese retailer might have done an oopsie with Metro Redux for Switch. GamingReplay listed Metro Redux (which includes both Metro: 2033 and Metro: Last Light) on their website, with a release date in December. They immediately pulled the listing, which didn’t really stop the rumour mill.

60FPS? On my Nintendo Switch?

There’s already speculation and arguments about whether the Switch is capable of running the Metro games, which have pretty demanding PC versions. Both Metro: 2033 and Metro: Last Light were released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2009 and 2013 respectively, so we already know the games can run fine on low-powered hardware – the question is whether it can run the remastered Redux versions that ran at 60FPS on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Then there’s Call Of Juarez: Gunslinger, which has been rated by the ESRB, suggesting it’s coming out soon. Techland has also hinted at a surprise launch for the Switch before the end of the year. Well, looks like the surprise is ruined!

Game Spotlight - John Wick Hex

“I’d like a dinner reservation for twelve”

(Good Shepherd Entertainment – PC, Mac)
Release date: October 8th 2019

John Wick Hex is an action strategy game serving as a prequel to the film series. Stepping into the black calfskin shoes of the unstoppable (and breathtaking) Keanu Reeves, this is a game about playing the odds, managing your resources and pumping your fist in the air while enjoying a highlight reel of your bad-ass kills at the end of each level.

Surveying the action from a top-down perspective, you John Wick your way through a series of streets and buildings. When an enemy comes into view, you’re given a range of options for dispatching the fool. Each action has a range takes different amounts of time to complete. You can also see how long your planned actions will take compared to your enemy’s plan, and you need to make sure you’re faster and smarter to stay alive.

You can interact with enemies in a variety of pleasantly violent ways, including strike, push, takedown, parry, shoot and – of course – throwing your gun at them. This being a strategy game, each action has a probabilty of success, given as a percentage. You can maximize your chances of success by getting closer to enemies, but this means spending more time and increases your chance of being spotted.

As you make your way through each level, more and more enemies appear and force you to ration your time wisely to manage all the threats. When you complete a level, your choices are presented as a short, action-packed sequence for your enjoyment.

Time moves much slower here

You equip yourself ahead of missions, and may have to tackle several successive challenges before being allowed to pick new gear, forcing you to make careful decisions. You definitely need a lot of ammo to perforate your opposition, but you can also expect to find more along the way. Maybe it’s better to stock up on bandages to make sure you stay alive?

Conserving resources while putting holes in goons is one thing, but then there are boss fights: Boss attacks can’t be interrupted by your own, so you have to plan your actions even more closely. Bosses don’t take melee damage but you need to pummel them to deplete their focus meter. While the boss is focused, your chance of hitting them with your guns is drastically reduced.

The boss fights definitely sharpen you up: while you can blast your way through the regular cannon fodder pretty comfortably, boss battles force you to carefully consider your decisions.

After completing a mission, you’re presented with a statistical summary that shows you well you stack up against par. If you manage to beat all the par quotas, you earn a name as a reward. Mastering missions and unlocking all your potential names will no doubt add a lot of replayability, since there are lots of ways to approach each enemy encounter.

There are also two difficulties: Normal is the core experience, the one the game was designed to deliver, while Hard mode adds a hard time limit for each decision: 5 seconds. No more. That sounds like a formidable – and fun – challenge.

John Wick Hex really lives up to the films’ style: It’s splendid fun to plan out your perfect route through a level, and executing each interaction perfectly. Watching the replays of the carnage you wreak really makes you feel like the greatest assassin in the world.

What more can you ask from a John Wick game? Definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan like us.

News Bits

More characters to join the BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle 2.0 Roster

A sizable free update is scheduled for BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle 2.0, introducing two new franchises, a new scenario and changes to the existing roster. 9 new characters will be coming to Europe on November 22nd, as part of the Version 2.0 expansion pack.

New characters include Akatsuki and Blitztank (Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse), Yumi (Senran Kagura Estival Versus) and more will be joining the fray. A complete physical version of the game will also be available for PlayStation 4, featuring an exclusive art book.

Headsnatchers coming to Switch

Hectic party game Headsnatchers is arriving on Switch in November. Supporting up to 4 players locally or online, you’ll be tasked with taking your opponent’s head in order to win. Loaded with 4 modes and 25 unique levels, there’s plenty of fun to be had with a group of friends. Headsnatchers also offers a single-player mode named Zombie Castle, which adds platforming elements and will require you to grab the heads of undead enemies.

Quiz Answer - Did You Get It Right?

Rocket League is actually a sequel, but to which game?

Answer: Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars!

Yes, we don’t quite believe it either. Not only is the fantastic and incredibly popular Rocket League actually a sequel, it’s the next game in the – sigh – Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars series. Not to be presumptuous, but could the incomprehensible name be part of the reason why no-one remembers Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars while the more succinct Rocket League is all the rage?
Rocket League Quiz

The game we won’t name again came out in 2008 as a PlayStation 3 exclusive, and while it’s not quite as polished as its more successful sequel, it looks a lot like Rocket League. Developer Psyonix pretty much made the same game twice, with a better name and a ton of little tweaks and improvements, and went from obscure has-been to one of the biggest games in the world.

Let that be a reminder that if at first you don’t succeed, get up and try again – but please, make sure your title’s catchier the second time around.

Weekly Giveaway

Surviving Mars on Steam

For this week’s DailyBits giveaway we’re all heading to the red planet! We are giving away 5 Steam keys for Surviving Mars, the strategy-management game from the developer of Tropico – where you have to help the first Mars colonists survive everything their new home can throw at them.

We’ll include the Season Pass too, because we’re good like that.

All you have to do to enter the sweepstakes is to email us (Once this week!) at team@dailybits.news with the subject line ‘Surviving Mars giveaway’. We will choose five random entries over the course of the week, and each will receive a Steam code for Surviving Mars on PC! It couldn’t be any easier.

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