Sony Talks PS5 Tech, Minecraft Dungeons Delay?

PlayStation 5 Specs

PlayStation 5 tech livestream round-up

Lead system architect Mark Cerny’s GDC presentation about the PlayStation 5 has been livestreamed by Sony. Mark Cerny has revealed the inner workings of the PlayStation 5 console, which Sony boasts will “shape the future of games.”

PlayStation 5 specifications:

• CPU: Zen 2 chip with 8 cores at 3.5GHz (variable frequency)
• GPU: 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (variable frequency)
• Architecture: Custom AMD RDNA 2
• Memory/Interface: 16GB GDDR6/256-bit
• Memory Bandwidth: 448GB/s
• Internal Storage: Custom 825GB SSD
• IO Throughput: 5.5GB/s (Raw), Typical 8-9GB/s (Compressed)
• Expandable Storage: NVMe SSD Slot
• External Storage: USB HDD Support
• Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray Drive

PlayStation 5 backwards compatibility:

• PlayStation 4 Games: There will be 100 games playable at launch, selected based on play time

Cerny also talked about how Sony consulted with game development studios to ensure that their system architecture fit with the realities of game development. The most common request from developers was an SSD, which turned into a guiding light for the rest of the architecture.

Much of the PlayStation 5’s technology is custom-built in collaboration with AMD, and is based on their RDNA 2 GPU architecture.

Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?

What was The Good Life creator Hidetaka Suehiro’s breakthrough title?

• 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
• Deadly Premonition
• Hotel Dusk: Room 215
• Killer7

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today’s issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.

Daily Fact

The fourth wall was already torn before Shadow Warrior reboot even began

No pastime like hunting for Easter eggs, and game developers can usually be relied on to be fiendishly clever when hiding them away. Flying Wild Hog’s 2013 Shadow Warrior reboot contained a cheeky reference to one of the studio’s earlier games right at the very start.

Turn around at the beginning of the first level, and go down either road ahead. Keep going, and you’ll come across a painting that makes it look like the road continues. Approach the facade and you will notice a tear in it. Look through, and you’ll see some enemy models and even a location from Hard Reset.

Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today’s fact.

Nintendo's Indie Showcase Roundup

Indie World Showcase round-up

Nintendo just served up another livestreamed Indie World Showcase, showing off over 20 indie games headed for Switch. Here’s our round-up:

• Blue Fire (ROBI Studios/Graffiti Games) – Showcase Trailer – Summer 2020 – Action, Adventure, Platformer, Role-Playing
• Baldo (Naps Team) – Showcase Trailer – Summer 2020 – Action, Adventure, Role-Playing, Puzzle
• I Am Dead (Hollow Ponds/Annapurna Interactive) – Showcase Trailer — TBA 2020 – Adventure, Puzzle
• B.Ark (Tic Toc Games) — Showcase Trailer – Late 2020 – Action, Arcade, Multiplayer, Party
• Cyanide & Happiness: Freakpocalypse (Explosm/Serenity Forge) – Showcase Trailer – Summer 2020 – Adventure, Puzzle
• Summer in Mara (Chibig) – Showcase Trailer – Spring 2020 – Adventure, Other, Simulation
• Quantum League (Nimble Giant Entertainment) – Showcase Trailer – Late 2020 – Action, First-Person, Multiplayer, Updates
• The Good Life (White Owls, Grounding/White Owls) – Showcase Trailer – TBA 2020 – Action, Adventure, Role-Playing, Simulation
• The Last Campfire (Hello Games) – Showcase Trailer – Summer 2020 – Adventure, Platformer, Puzzle
• PixelJunk Eden 2 (Q-Games) – Showcase Trailer – Summer 2020 – Action, Multiplayer, Music
• Faeria (Abrakam Entertainment/Versus Evil) – Showcase Trailer – March 2020 – Board Game, Strategy
• Eldest Souls (Fallen Flag Studios/United Label) – Showcase Trailer – Summer 2020 – Action, Adventure, Role-Playing
• Blair Witch (Bloober Team) – Showcase Trailer – Summer 2020 – Adventure, Other
• Ghost of a Tale (Plug In Digital) – Showcase Trailer – Spring 2020 – Action, Adventure, Role-Playing, Puzzle
• Sky: Children of the Light (thatgamecompany) – Showcase Trailer – Summer 2020 – Role-Playing
• Sky Racket (Double Dash Studios) – Showcase Trailer – Out Now – Action, Arcade, Multiplayer
• Superliminal (Pillow Castle Games) – Showcase Trailer – Summer 2020 – Action, First-Person, Puzzle
• Wingspan (Monster Couch) – Showcase Trailer – Spring 2020 – Board Game, Multiplayer, Other, Strategy
• Dicey Dungeons (Distractionware Limited) – Showcase Trailer – Late 2020 – Adventure, Board Game, Role-Playing, Strategy
• Bounty Battle (Merge Games) – Showcase Trailer – Summer 2020 – Action, Arcade, Fighting, Multiplayer
• Moving Out (SMG Studio/Team17) – Showcase Trailer – April 28, 2020 – Multiplayer, Party, Simulation, Strategy
• Exit The Gungeon (Dodge Roll/Devolver Digital) – Showcase Trailer – Out Now – Action, Adventure, Arcade, Platformer

GAME UK Woes

UK retailer GAME keeps stores open amid COVID-19 outbreak, staff “under immense stress”

As the COVID-19 outbreak escalates across Europe and the UK, videogame retailer Game is acting like it’s business as usual as major releases like Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons go on sale this week.

Governments across Europe has ordered businesses with high volumes of traffic such as cafes, clubs, restaurants and high-street chain stores to close until the outbreak is contained. The British government has yet to give such an order, meaning contracted staff in Game’s 300 stores across the UK are “under immense stress” to keep working or risk losing their income.

Staying open: “Obviously we don’t want to spread the virus if anyone comes down with symptoms but we are equally worried about how we are going to get by,” an anonymous GAME manager told Eurogamer. Staff have been told to keep stores clean and wiped down, but there’s “no extra hours to cater for the increased workload”, according to another employee.

Futile gesture: “We’re meant to clean door handles every three hours but if we’re handling money, trading in games, consoles and phones all the cleaning is relatively futile as it only limits exposure between staff.” In-store foot traffic has already fallen thanks to government advice to exercise social-distancing and self-isolation.

What Else Happened Today?

• Go on the prowl as a lone wolf in Call of Duty: Warzone in the new Solos mode. You won’t have any teammates to watch your back, you can still self-revive or earn your freedom in the gulag
• Steam Game Festival is back with a Spring Edition kicking off on March 18th, featuring 40 game demos available until until March 23rd. Geoff Keighley promises more festivals through the year
• New A Drive to Investigate event in Pokémon Go starting on March 20th and lasting until March 23rd. Genesect will make make a debut, alongside a Special Research story concluding on March 26th
• Minecraft Dungeons face delays after studio sent devs home on COVID-19 quarantine. While the team will remote-work, the studio is re-evaluating their schedule and warn that the game might be delayed
• You can preload Half-Life: Alyx from March 20th through Steam, and start playing the moment it unlocks at 10.00am PT on March 23rd

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Half Past Fate PC Code

You could be in with a chance to receive a PC code for Half Past Fate, if you refer DailyBits to a friend! You can use our widget to start earning your referrals, which you can build up throughout the year giving you a greater chance of being selected.

Half Past Fate is currently available on the Steam Store for £12.39 and we’ve got a code to hand out today; note that today’s code will be available for all our readers.

Half Past Fate is a rom-com adventure with a charismatic 3D pixel art style. Follow the journey of 6 ordinary people who found each other in extraordinary ways. From eight hours to eight years, this time-jumping saga will change the way you feel about fate forever.
Previous Winners:

• Andrea B, USA – Rack N Ruin (Switch)

Quiz Answer - Did You Get It Right?

What was The Good Life creator Hidetaka Suehiro’s breakthrough title?

Answer: Deadly Premonition!

Hidetaka “SWERY” Suehiro has built up a cult following around his odd games like D4 and the upcoming The Good Life, but Deadly Premonition remains his most famous work.

Deadly Premonition stars FBI agent Francis York Morgan, who is investigating a brutal murder in a small Washington state town in a decidedly Twin Peaks-esque story of brutality, dark secrets and fortune-telling coffee. Yes, it’s quite peculiar, why do you ask?

Many games suffer from a mixed reception, but few reach the trench warfare-worthy levels of polarization Deadly Premonition provoked. On its release in 2010, the mix of absurdity, survival horror and outrageously mundane open-world earned plaudits ranging from best to worst game of all time, with many critics clearly confused about whether to take it seriously while others would ask big questions like whether intentionally bad design should be considered good design.

In any case, the game earned what must be the most specific possible Guiness World Record for Most Critically Polarizing Survival Horror Game. If this is all catnip to you, then rejoice, for Deadly Premonition was recently ported to Switch, making this the best possible time to discover SWERY: Right before The Good Life causes another round of terminally raised eyebrows.

Today’s issue of DailyBits was written by Simon Priest, Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud and Jamie Davey.