Sources: The Upgraded PlayStation 4 is Codenamed NEO, Contains Upgraded CPU, GPU, RAM

by Austin Walker

Though the NEO will offer greater visual fidelity than the original PS4, Sony is taking measures not to split their user base in two.

Earlier this year, rumors began to fly that Sony would release an upgraded version of the PlayStation 4, a console often called the PS4.5 or the PS4K by fans and press. Today, multiple sources have confirmed for us details of the project, which is internally referred to as the NEO. No price was provided, but previous reports indicate that the NEO would sell at $399. At time of publishing, Sony has not returned our request for comment, but we will update this story if the company responds.

The NEO will feature a higher clock speed than the original PS4, an improved GPU, and higher bandwidth on the memory. The documents we’ve received note that the HDD in the NEO is the same as that in the original PlayStation 4, but it’s not clear if that means in terms of capacity or connection speed. Starting in October, every PS4 game is required to ship with both a “Base Mode” which will run on the currently available PS4 and a “NEO Mode” for use on the new console.

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Xbox One meets PS4? Microsoft to enable cross-platform multiplayer gaming with other consoles

BY JAMES RISLEY

If you’re big into multiplayer gaming, you need to buy the same console as your friends to play together. But a new move by Microsoft may end that.

In a note to independent developers today, ID@Xbox director Chris Charla announced that the company is enabling developers to support cross-network multiplayer gaming.

He explains, “This means players on Xbox One and Windows 10 using Xbox Live will be able to play with players on different online multiplayer networks – including other console and PC networks.”

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PlayStation 4 (PS4™) to Add Anticipated Features and Social Enhancements

System Software Update v2.50 to Enable Suspend/Resume, Facebook Friend Search, Remote Play and Share Play Enhancements and Much More

SAN MATEO, Calif., March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) today announced it will release system software update version 2.50, codenamed “Yukimura,” for the PlayStation®4 (PS4™) system on March 26, bringing highly-anticipated and requested features to the system.

These forward-looking updates include the Suspend/Resume feature, which enables gamers to jump in and out of their games quickly and pick up where they left off. In addition, the PS4 system will add to its already robust set of social tools by making it easier than ever to connect gamers together, furthering its position as the best place to play with friends.

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PlayStation 4 sales hit 10M in blow to Microsoft’s Xbox

By Arjun Kharpal

Sony has sold over 10 million PlayStation 4 (PS4) devices, the company said on Tuesday, landing a major blow to console rival Microsoft’s Xbox One.

Jim Ryan, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe CEO, made the announcement at major gaming conference Gamescom in Cologne, amid a battle for dominance between consoles and mobile gaming.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Xbox One has sold around half of that at 5 million after the technology giant made an error with its strategy, according to analysts.

Microsoft has had an uphill struggle since it released its next generation games console to 13 markets including the U.K and U.S. in November 2013. The Xbox One was around $100 more expensive than the PS4 because it was bundled with Kinect, a camera that allows users to play interactive games.

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Microsoft To Shut Down Xbox Entertainment Studios

By NELLIE ANDREEVA

This morning’s announcement by Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella of one of the largest layoffs in tech history, a plan to cut 18,000 jobs, triggered a whirlwind of speculation about the future of the fledgling Xbox Entertainment Studios. In a memo, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s Xbox division and Microsoft Studios, just confirmed that the company will close the Entertainment Studios in the coming months.

Nancy Tellem, Jordan Levin and some of the XES team will stay on for some time to shepherd original programming already in production, including the documentary series about technology Signal to Noise and the Halo game franchise extensions, digital feature Halo: Nightfall and the Halo TV series, which will continue as planned with Microsoft’s 343 Industries and Amblin. Xbox also will continue to support and deliver interactive sports content like ‘NFL on Xbox.’ XBox’s app partnerships are not impacted.

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PLAYSTATION4 sales surpass 7.0 million units worldwide

PS4 Furthers Global Momentum as Gamers Embrace Its Breakthrough Gameplay and Innovative Sharing Capabilities

Tokyo, April 17, 2014 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today announced that the PlayStation®4 (PS4™) computer entertainment system has cumulatively sold through more than 7.0 million units*1 globally as of April 6, 2014 (JST), demonstrating the rapid growth of the PS4 platform.

“The response from the global gaming community for PS4 has been overwhelming and we are truly humbled that gamers are selecting PS4 as their next generation console of choice,” said Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

“The PS4 journey has just begun, and although we are still facing difficulties keeping up with the strong demand worldwide, we remain steadfast in our commitment to meet the needs of our customers, and surpassing the wildest expectations of gamers by delivering new user experiences that inspire and engage. We look forward to unveiling many of these experiences to our fans in the coming months.”

The PS4 system is currently available in 72 countries and regions*7 worldwide.

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Facebook to Acquire Oculus VR for $2 Billion

Transaction expected to close in Q2 of this year.

by Scott Lowe

Facebook has announced that it will acquire Oculus VR, makers of the Oculus Rift for $2 billion. Announced today, the social networking giant will acquire the Oculus VR for $400 million in cash and 23.1 million in Facebook shares.

“While the applications for virtual reality technology beyond gaming are in their nascent stages, several industries are already experimenting with the technology, and Facebook plans to extend Oculus’ existing advantage in gaming to new verticals, including communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas.” a Facebook press release read. “Given these broad potential applications, virtual reality technology is a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communications platform.”


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How video games are transforming the film industry

Posted by Steve Boxer

At one time it was the game industry that wanted to emulate films. But now the movie industry is adopting the technology of video games

Amid the debate about television stealing the film industry’s thunder, another entertainment form has crept up unnoticed, further threatening Hollywood’s creative hegemony: video games. With a new, much more powerful generation of games consoles poised to arrive – Microsoft’s Xbox One goes on sale on Friday, with Sony’s PlayStation 4 due a week later – the games companies reckon they finally have the ammunition to shake off the perception that their digital epics are inferior to movies.

I’m in a place that could not reinforce that impression more emphatically: the historic Ealing studios, where classics such as The Lavender Hill Mob and The Ladykillers were filmed. But I’m here to experience the process of making a video game called Ryse: Son of Rome, an epic tale charting the Roman conquest of Britain, which will be a launch title for the Xbox One. And the studio is nowadays home to The Imaginarium, an outfit co-founded by Andy Serkis, who – as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings – is perhaps the world’s leading exponent of performance-capture, in which every nuance of an actor’s performance (specifically movement, voice and facial expressions) is recorded and mapped on to a video game character.

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Sony PlayStation 4 review: Welcome to the next generation

By Sean Hollister, Ross Miller, and David Pierce

Seven years is a technological eternity. Yet the PlayStation 3 has sold well for that long, ever since DJ Fatman Scoop and Ludacris hosted its blowout launch event in New York City in 2006. At launch, the PlayStation 3 was big, heavy, and expensive — it took nearly two revisions and almost a dozen SKUs of PS3 to get Sony to 2013. The console now starts under $200, the controller rumbles, Blu-ray is the dominant physical disc format, backwards compatibility is a moot point, and there’s a large back catalog of titles both physical and digital. PlayStation Move exists now.

But even as the current generation continues to adapt and evolve, Sony has decided it’s time to start anew. Time to do something fresh, to create the console that will sate gamers for seven more years. Sony’s new PlayStation 4 reflects the company’s guess about the future of video games, and displays the many lessons Sony’s learned over the life of the PS3. It’s built a different kind of console for a different sort of purpose as it looks to 2014 and 2021 to see what we’ll want to buy.

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Nintendo Wii production has officially ended

John Callaham

Today marked the end of one of the most successful game consoles in Nintendo’s history. The Wii, which launched in the fall of 2006 with the funny name and the Wii Remote controller, is no longer being made by the company as it tries to made the transition to the more recent Wii U.

Nintendo’s Japanese website has confirmed it has shut down producing new Wii hardware. Nintendo has shipped just over 100 million units of the Wii since its launch, beating the shipment numbers of the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. However, both of those consoles are still in production and in theory they could finally overtake the Wii if sales last long enough.

Nintendo had an early success with the Wii; stores all over the world could not keep up with the demand for the first several months after its launch. This was due in part to its low price (just $249 in the U.S) and the fact that the console, at least in some parts of the world, included Wii Sports as a freebie. The game, which also served as a tutorial on how to use the motion-based Wii Remote, became a critically acclaimed title on its own.

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