He's worried he may Push Square instead.

A video clip of Xbox boss Phil Spencer at the Tokyo Game Show has gone viral after he jokingly complained about the position of the b:X button on the DualSense controller. “The b:X button’s in the wrong place,” he laughed. “b:X is supposed to be over there.” He then pointed to the position of the b:Square button, which is obviously where it exists on the Xbox controller.

Sony would probably respond that the b:X button technically isn’t even pronounced ‘ecks’ like the letter, but is in fact the ‘cross’ button – they are shapes, after all. This line of thinking hurts our heads.

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Love is in the air.

First-person PS5 and PS4 romance game Venus Vacation Prism will see you dating the cast of Dead or Alive, in an all-new experience scheduled to release early next year. While this is unlikely to launch in the West, its Asian edition will feature full English subtitles, much like Dead or Alive Xtreme 3: Fortune on PS4 and PS Vita. Both the PS5 and PS4 are region-free.

There’ll be six ladies to date in total, with Misaki the first to be announced. Subsequent characters will be announced in the lead up to launch, with the next trailer scheduled for 7th October.

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Lots to see and do.

Sony’s presence at Tokyo Game Show is important because the platform holder’s generally been skipping conventions. It did appear at ChinaJoy in Shanghai earlier in the year, and now it’s at the Makuhari Messe, showing off games like Astro Bot, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.

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Farm fresh.

Farming Simulator has always had European and North American maps, but developer Giants Software will be expanding upon the variety with an Asian-inspired environment in new game, Farming Simulator 25. Announced at Tokyo Game Show, this appears to be loosely inspired by a variety of countries, including Japan and China.

Of course, the key thing is that it brings new gameplay possibilities: “With two types of rice, specialised equipment for planting and harvesting, and water buffalo roaming the corrals, the newly unveiled map is the ideal playground to showcase the new farming technology added to the game.”

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There's a touch of Gravity Rush, too.

It may not have the PS Studios ident, but make no mistake, veteran director Keiichiro Toyama’s upcoming Slitterhead is every bit the spiritual successor to Siren. The ex-Japan Studio man’s debut independent projects builds on the idea of Sightjacking, introducing a possession-style system which allows you to hop between the bodies of different NPCs.

This actually makes for some fascinating gameplay possibilities, and there’s a pinch of Gravity Rush in this Tokyo Game Show demo, as we see how traversal works using the body hopping mechanics. The system is also used during combat; hopping from one person to another works a little like a dodge, as you cycle through disposable human flesh.

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A different kinda tush.

Korean developer Shift Up has released a surprise update for Stellar Blade, which brings some pretty meaningful improvements and features to the PS5 favourite. It’s important to underline, this does not include the Photo Mode functionality and NieR Automata content announced at State of Play earlier in the week – all of that content is due later in the year.

The big new addition in this 2.4GB update is the implementation of wind physics to more outfits. As you can see in the side-by-side comparisons below, Eve’s clothing will now react naturally to the weather, meaning gusts can lift the heroine’s skirt in certain situations. Previously, only select outfits operated in this way.

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PlayStation 5 Professional.

Sony has announced numerous PS5 games that'll be receiving a PS5 Pro update to take advantage of the new hardware, but many more have been discovered thanks to the PS Store. A new tag on the digital storefront flags whether a game will be PS5 Pro Enhanced, and there are lots of additional titles on top of what's been officially confirmed.

Over on the PS5 subreddit, a list of every title has been compiled, and we've checked each one for ourselves to ensure they are listed as PS5 Pro Enhanced on PS Store. They are indeed, with some big name titles in the mix, including (but not limited to):

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"The most civilized game in the galaxy".

While the future of the Guillemot family business remains unclear, those who picked up Star Wars Outlaws have earned a glimmer of hope. While sales were soft, Ubisoft pledged it's "fully mobilised to swiftly implement a series of updates to polish and improve" the game. The first piece of post-story DLC has been dated, with players getting better acquainted with that old rogue, Lando Calrissian, on 21st November.

This outing, called Wild Card, will see protagonist Kay Vess infiltrate a high-stakes Sabacc tournament (thanks, Eurogamer). Ubisoft teases that Vess will "cross paths with the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian. She soon learns that another game is being played."

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Guillemot family under siege.

With the company's stock price approaching subterranean levels, it feels like something major is about to give over at Ubisoft. Blows have been raining down in the form of Star Wars Outlaws not meeting expectations, Assassin's Creed Shadows being hit with a hefty delay, calls for CEO Yves Guillemot’s resignation, and the Board of Directors-ordered internal company review; just about the last thing the brothers Guillemot need now is a labour strike, and there is a revolutionary feeling in the air. Try to guess what's just been called for by France's biggest video game union.

As reported by IGN, Le Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV) has called for all staff at Ubisoft's French holdings to down tools and strike. This move follows a breakdown in negotiations regarding a return to work order and ongoing pay disputes. Ubisoft management has mandated all staff return to the office for three days a week, which STJV says is ridiculous after the pivot workers just did:

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Score one for physical fans.

A newly signed Californian law known as AB 2426 will require that digital storefronts operating within the American state (which, if it were a country, would have the fifth largest economy in the world) tell its customers they are licensing goods and not purchasing products. Sony obviously does a lot of business in California, with several of its first-party studios located there, and this may mean it will be restricted from using misleading terms like "purchase" or "buy" for digital products on the PS Store.

AB 2426 will come into effect next year, and it has some interesting implications (thanks, PSLS). If, for example, Sony wants to use terms meant to convey that the consumer owns a purchased digital good, it will need to obtain an acknowledgement from the consumer or provide a clear statement that the product is really a license that can be revoked. Failing to do so would make Sony subject to a fine for false advertising. In a press release, assembly member Jacqui Irwin said of the new law:

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With the majority playing on PC.

Black Myth: Wukong continues to put up big numbers, with former PlayStation CEO Ken Kuturagi revealing at Tokyo Game Show that developer Game Science moved an astonishing 20 million units in the weeks following launch. For comparison, GTA V is the fastest-selling game of all time, moving around 11 million copies in 24 hours. It took Hogwarts Legacy, meanwhile, most of 2023 to cross that 20 million mark.

Some more interesting tidbits were gleaned by Insider Gaming, with the outlet doing some SteamDB sleuthing and napkin math. The banner behind Kuturagi proclaims that Wukong enjoyed three million concurrents at launch. Gaben says 2.4 million of that was on Steam, meaning that around 600,000 PS5 players contributed at its peak. Or, put another way, that means (at least in terms of concurrents) around 80% of Black Myth: Wukong players were on PC.

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Private PvE lobbies, bot buffs, PvP balancing, oh my!

Praise be, Battle Brothers, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2's big 3.0 update has arrived, bringing exciting new features and a much-needed balancing pass across all three game modes. The Hub Sparring Arena on the Battle Barge will allow you to batter your squad mates between rounds of Eternal War or between Operations, to keep your skills sharp, and to establish a pecking order. You can check out the full patch notes for all the gritty details or read on for some highlights.

On the Campaign front, enemy aggressiveness has been decreased for Veteran Difficulty to better the single-player experience, and player health has been reduced to compensate. Bots have had a bunch of restrictions lifted, which should allow them "to be more helpful and effective, while still not beating the game for the player." They should execute more vulnerable enemies, for example, rather than leaving so many for you to finish, and will focus fire on those pesky psychic Zoanthropes.

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Every game with a PS5 Pro patch.

What are all PS5 Pro enhanced games? With the upgraded console now official, Sony has shared a preliminary list of current and upcoming PS5 titles that will perform better on the PS5 Pro via patches and updates. The work done will make each title look and run better on PS5 Pro, and take advantage of a bigger GPU, advanced ray-tracing, and AI-driven upscaling. Below you'll find a list of all PS5 Pro compatible games confirmed so far.

All PS5 Pro Enhanced Games

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Brain bleach.

Bandai Namco has slapped a date on Bleach: Rebirth of Souls, its adaptation of Tite Kubo’s iconic manga and anime series. Due out in “early 2025”, as confirmed during this new Tokyo Game Show trailer, the title promises to let you “use each character’s unique skills to get the advantage in stylish swordfights”.

This trailer confirms some new characters and forms, including Ulqiorra – alongside Resurrección Segunda Etapa – and Full Hollowfication Ichigo. We’d expect the roster to grow further as we edge closer to release.

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Scarce systems already soaring in value.

Sony charged a lot for its forced 30th Anniversary PS5 Pro bundles, but it’s clear it could have comfortably tripled the cost and still sold through its inventory of 12,300 units. The evidence? Scalpers on eBay are already flipping their pre-orders for up to $5,000. And no, these aren’t just speculative listings – they’re actually selling for that much, too.

In the UK, multiple units have sold for around £4,000 – and while no one’s bitten yet, some systems have been listed for as much as £10,000, which is ten times the MSRP. It’ll be interesting to see just how high the prices for these bundles rise – especially when we get into real collectors territory in five to ten years.

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Fight for the right.

Dynasty Warriors needs a return to form after the dismal Dynasty Warriors 9, and to be fair to Koei Tecmo and developer Omega Force, it's starting to look like Dynasty Warriors: Origins could be a genuine banger.

Now, while some longtime fans have expressed concern over the game's decision to move away from the traditional Dynasty Warriors format, it's difficult to deny the title's potential — especially after watching this largely fantastic-looking gameplay demonstration, fresh from Tokyo Game Show.

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That's a lot.

While we reckon Horizon Zero Dawn is an overall excellent game, there were some side-quests in the original that had some horrendous voice acting. It’s great to learn that developer Nixxes, in partnership with Guerrilla, has actually gone back and re-recorded over 10 hours of dialogue for the upcoming Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, then, which will presumably massively improve on some of said sub-par takes.

It shows that this remaster is more than just beautiful visuals – in fact, some of the motion capture has been redone, too.

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All You Need Is Help.

Announced earlier this year, the cutesy co-op game All You Need Is Help is now available for purchase on PS5. It comes from Q-Games, the Japanese studio perhaps best known for the PixelJunk series.

As you'd expect from the Kyoto-based developer, All You Need Is Help presents players with a unique experience. This is a co-op, physics based puzzle game, in which up to four players (local or online) must complete specific patterns on the ground in each level. As well as working out how to arrange yourselves to form this pattern, you'll also need to reach the right area, which will involve various obstacles that'll need teamwork to overcome.

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Ghost with the most.

Sony's latest State of Play aired earlier this week, and to almost everyone's surprise, it was actually quite well received. The 33-minute presentation offered updates on a large number of PS5 games, while also providing a handful of fresh announcements.

Now, obviously, Ghost of Yotei is the big one — and rightly so — but what else piqued your interest? That's what we're here to find out.

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