TODAY: Tony Hawk steals his thunder by scooping Summer Games Fest — Slow down, Gandhi, you're killing them! — Retro Studios is bulking up the Metroid Prime 4 development team with new visual effects talent

PlayStation 5 Date?

PlayStation 5 sooner than expected?

A Sony Interactive Entertainment job listing may have revealed that PlayStation 5 will launch in October 2020.

PlayStation 2 was launched in North America in October of 2000, and history suggests the console will launch in different territories at different times: PlayStation 4 was launched in North American two weeks before the European launch, while the Japanese launch trailed by four months.

• Sony has never had a simultaneous global launch for a home console
• This contradicts rumours that PlayStation 5 could be delayed well into 2021 by COVID-19

Show your cards, Sony: While Microsoft has talked a lot about Xbox Series X, showing off both hardware and games, Sony has just revealed the new DualSense controller. The console design is still a secret, and no games have been shown. If there's less than six months left before launch, we can expect Sony to start a considerable marketing push soon.

Editor's Note: Following the hours after this was written, Sony's PR reps in Japan responded to a request for comment from Famitsu.com, saying that the recruiting site had "made a mistake and the date was still set for Holiday 2020".

Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?

Why is Gandhi so uncharacteristically aggressive in the Civilization games?

• A disgruntled programmer changed the code
• There was a glitch in Gandhi’s stats
• Historical context
• The dev team just didn’t like Gandhi

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

Now THIS is Pod Racing!

Star Wars Episode 1: Racer was developed in just two years by the team behind Nintendo 64 launch title Shadows of the Empire.

Lucasarts started development immediately after completing Dash Rendar's 64-bit adventure, based on little more than a few frames of footage from the upcoming Phantom Menace.

Those few frames seem to have been ample inspiration: The game appeared on several consoles, although the PlayStation version was never finished. The game is full of music and sound effects lifted straight out of the movie, and Jake Lloyd – who played Anakin Skywalker – provided voiceover and even promoted the game at E3.

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

Tony Hawk's is back

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Returns

The first game to be revealed at the four-month-long Summer Games Fest is remastered versions Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2. The new version will feature the original characters, maps and soundtracks.

Developer Vicarious Visions, who remastered the Crash Bandicoot games, delivers updated 4K graphics, split-screen and online multiplayer and the opportunity to create and share your own skate parks.

• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was already remastered in 2012
• Tony Hawk himself leaked the announcement just an hour before the Summer Games Fest started

Demo ahoy: If you pre-order digitally, you get to play the Warehouse demo. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 Remastered will launch for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 4th. Check out the trailer!

Metroid Prime 4

Retro Studios bolsters visual effects team as Metroid Prime 4 ramps up

Looks like Retro Studios is ramping up Metroid Prime 4 production, as the studio hire new visual effects lead and artists. Adad Morales is the new visual effects leads, previously of DICE and Visceral.

Nintendo rebooted Metroid Prime 4 development in early 2019 (https://youtu.be/zLIv_UXI_So) after two years, and moved production from Bandai Namco Studios to Retro Studios.

• Half the Metroid Prime 3 developers remain at Retro Studios today
• Metroid Prime 4 was first revealed at E3 2017, the year the Switch launched

When is it coming? The last three Metroid Prime games were in development for two to three years each, and it seems unlikely that a next-gen game will be made any faster. It seems unlikely that we will see anything from the game until next year, and there is speculation that Metroid Prime 4 will launch alongside the Switch successor.

What Else Happened Today?

• New season pass for Civilization VI named The New Frontier Pass, which introduces eight civilizations, nine leaders and six game modes. Get civilized and watch the developers talk about it.
• New AAA studio from ex-Respawn developers called Gravity Well founded by Drew McCoy and Jon “Slothy” Shiring. The two developers have worked on games like Modern Warfare 1 & 2, Titanfall 1 & 2 and Apex Legends. Gravity Well is hiring for 12 open positions if you feel like joining the fun.
• Ubisoft's digital showcase is called Ubisoft Forward and it opens on July 12th. Expect exclusive game news, reveals and more.
• Aspyr confirms Star Wars Episode 1: Racer is delayed thanks to slower progress while developers work from home.
• New campaign mission Blood Count for Zombie Army 4 out today, introducing the new Renegade Officer character, weapon skins and two new bundles. The trailer offers a glimpse of the final chapter.

Quiz Answer - Did You Get It Right?

Why is Gandhi so uncharacteristically aggressive in the Civilization games?

Answer: There was a glitch in Gandhi’s stats!

The first Civilization is a perfect example of what kind of weird and unpredictable behaviour a glitch can cause.

Gandhi was supposed to be like his real-life counterpart: A peaceful leader without much hunger for conquest, so his aggression stat was set to 1. However, adopting Democracy reduces a civilization's aggressiveness by 2 – meaning his aggressiveness became lower than 0.

Unfortunately, that caused the number to underflow and wrap back around to its max value! The maximum aggression stat was supposed to be 10, but a taste of Democracy would send Gandhi's aggressiveness soaring to 255. The developers found Gandhi's heel turn amusing, and turned it into a series staple rather than fix it.

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