It's hard to imagine a company with a greater influence on consumer electronics than Sony. You can trace a direct line from the Walkman -- the first portable media player -- to the smartphone. Today Sony is a massive force in gaming, making the PlayStation and publishing games for it and other platforms. Sony image sensors are in iPhones as well as its own mirrorless cameras. Not to mention the OLED TVs; smartphones; noise-canceling headphones; music, tv, and film publishing; and, yes, robot dogs.
The most trusted source for console analysis has just corroborated and analyzed the leaks.
“Those hoping that PS5 Pro will turn CPU-limited 30fps titles into super-smooth 60fps experiences will be disappointed,” writes Richard Leadbetter — but he thinks PS5 Pro “should be able to deliver a far higher perceptual increase in resolution vs PS5 than the PS4 Pro did against its junior variant.”
Lots more nuance here, including how PS5 Pro has 1.2GB more RAM for games:
The Spider-Man 2 update adding features like New Game Plus, time of day options, mission replay, and more, arrived today. But players quickly discovered something wasn’t right with version 1.002.000, which included a “development game menu” that wasn’t meant to be there. Players who poked around told Polygon they found cheats and more.
Insomniac Games later warned players not to tinker with the menu or risk corrupted saves. A hotfix is on the way.
But you can squeak by at 720p and 30fps with a GeForce GTX 1650 4GB or an RX 5500XT 4GB, according to the Playstation Blog. Space-wise, the game weighs in at 150GB.
Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition for PC is out on March 21st, preorders are live on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini on how anime took over the world
The head of the fast-growing streaming service discusses the Funimation merger and shutdown and where he sees growth in anime.
That’s right, cross-platform kombat is coming to the NetherRealm Studios reboot of the classic fighting game.
Players can expect the feature in next week’s patch, and it will include support for PS5, Xbox, and PC, as announced by the game’s official account on X.
Microsoft is bringing Sea of Thieves to the PS5 on April 30th. It’s the second previous Xbox-exclusive that’s coming to PS5, with Hi-Fi Rush available on the PS5 on March 19th. These are part of four Xbox games coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch:
• Pentiment - PS4, PS5, and Switch on February 22nd
• Hi-Fi Rush - PS5 on March 19th
• Grounded - PS4, PS5, and Switch on April 16th
• Sea of Thieves - PS5 on April 30th
We heard it was coming, and Sony says it’s out today. Here it is. don’t download the old Remake demo by accident!
You can replay Sony’s entire video reveal now: it goes over loads of activities and regions to expect from the game, including Junon, Corel, Costa Del Sol, Cosmo Canyon, and Shinra Manor. Apparently, the game will “ultimately decide Aerith’s fate.”
Update: The demo is now live.
What to expect from today’s State of Play:
☄️”The latest trailer highlighting the charms of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth”
☄️”A special gameplay video showing how the game has been designed with new footage”
☄️A demo that lets you play Cloud or Sephiroth and reportedly explore the world map.
Full game’s out February 29th, stream’s embedded below!
Joe Blackburn, Destiny 2’s current game director, has just announced he is leaving Bungie next month. Tyson Green, who previously worked on Halo PvP, is taking over as game director. “Tyson has been a critical part of Bungie’s legacy since Myth II,” says Blackburn in a post on X. Blackburn’s departure comes months after Bungie was forced to delay its Destiny 2: The Final Shape expansion to June, amid around 100 layoffs at the PlayStation studio.
Sony shipped 10 million PS5s in just five months last year, and Xbox hardware sales were up 3 percent last quarter. But AMD, whose gaming business provides their chips, is forecasting a “significant double-digit percentage” decline in gaming revenue now that we’re in “the fifth year of what has been a very strong gaming cycle.”
We won’t hear from Sony again till Valentine’s Day, but Microsoft just confirmed: next quarter, Xbox hardware revenue will decline year-over-year.
Microsoft has internally suggested the next gen of consoles might arrive in 2028.
The show floor only just opened yesterday, but we got a glimpse at a ton of cool new products, prototypes, and features:
• Asus made a portable monitor — and a laptop — with two screens.
• Sony and Honda showed off an Afeela EV prototype that puts Fortnite on your bumper.
• Amazon announced Matter casting support for Prime Video.
• Google and Samsung teamed up to combine Quick Share and Nearby Share into a single sharing solution.
• This AI startup made a little gadget that’s supposed to use your apps for you.
There’s still more to come! Stay tuned to our coverage, and make sure to check out The Verge’s TikTok and Instagram where we go hands-on with new devices.