Plans to double workforce.

All we’ve heard about for what feels like an eternity are layoffs and job losses, so it’s a little unusual to see Koei Tecmo talking about doubling down on AAA titles and growing its workforce from 2,500 employees to 5,000.

Still, the Japanese publisher – which will release Dynasty Warriors: Origins early next year – believes there’s room for growth in the traditional console market, as it reckons mobile gaming has saturated and that consumers will gradually transition from smartphones to PC and systems like the PS5. In an investors Q&A, it pointed to a similar trend in China and Korea.

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An important job.

Game preservation is more important than ever. As our industry matures, the thought of losing valuable source code, design documents, and artwork feels unthinkable – but it happens all the time. Sony has taken steps to prevent that, assigning preservation expert Garret Fredley and a few of his colleagues the task of creating a secure archive of all PlayStation games – both past and present.

And in a rare update on X (or Twitter), he revealed this week that the project had officially reached the 500TB milestone.

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Rebirthed.

Gee whiz have the cold winter nights arrived! It's freaking freezing in the UK this week, so we hope the temperatures are a little more positive wherever in the world you are. Let's warm up with some video games, shall we?

Aaron Bayne

We're in the final three weeks of The Finals Season 4 and that Emerald tier ranking in World Tour is feeling tantalisingly close. The grind is on!

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Tri Breaker goes on an intergalactic odyssey next month.

We thoroughly enjoyed Lillymo Games’ Arkanoid-esque Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure on PS4 and PS Vita in 2020, so we’re pretty pumped to see the announcement of pseudo-sequel Tri Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey for PS5 and PS4.

As is obvious from the trailer, this is more than just your average Breakout clone, with nods and references to all kinds of 80s and 90s arcade favourites. There’s a snippet of what looks like Frogger in the trailer, as well as R-Type and much more. The general block busting system remains, though, so we’re eager to see how this all works.

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Out on PS5 next year.

Strinova is a free-to-play online shooter, which doesn’t sound particularly interesting at first blush. One of its big features, however, is its anime art style – and the fact that it features a gameplay mechanic where you can toggle between 2D and 3D character models.

So, let’s just explain that last bit a little more. The big gameplay innovation here is that you can “stringify”, effectively flattening your character like paper. This enables you to dodge bullets, float in the air, or even scale vertical surfaces. It looks extremely goofy, but it’s a system that sets the release apart from its copious competitors.

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Build our best PS1 games list.

Ah, the PS1. The original PlayStation console. The system that started it all. Released in 1994 in Japan, and then heading West in 1995, the PS1 is widely regarded as one of the most important — and successful — consoles of all time, shaping the industry that we know today.

But as is the case with any truly great gaming machine, it was the games themselves that cemented the PS1's long-standing legacy. The system's library is both colossal and era-defining; so much of its software planted the seeds of gameplay mechanics, structures, and concepts that still exist decades later.

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All hands on deck.

Portable gaming devices are coming back into fashion. The Nintendo Switch has played a substantial part in that, providing users with the choice to play on a TV or untethered, if they prefer. Of course, mobile is an enormous part of the puzzle too, with very capable smartphones in the palms of millions around the world.

Sony and PlayStation shifted away from this area following the modest sales numbers of PS Vita, and we never expected the platform holder to take that route again. However, with rumours swirling about the company's next-gen plans involving a handheld counterpart to the PS6, it's left us thinking about what a modern Sony portable would entail.

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The impact of Game Pass.

The US sales data for the month of October has arrived, courtesy of Circana and analyst Mat Piscatella. Perhaps most interesting is the sales performance of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which is the first entry to be included on Xbox's Game Pass subscription service.

As noted by Piscatella, 82 per cent of the game's sales in October were for the PS5 and PS4 versions. It's a somewhat similar story in Europe; the latest physical game chart revealed an 89 per cent slice of the pie for Sony's systems.

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Even further beyond.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero always felt like an inevitable smash hit, but we didn't see it being a total and utter record-breaker for Bandai Namco.

As per the latest Circana report from Mat Piscatella, the brawler — which released last month, on the 11th October — is basically the most successful Dragon Ball title ever in the US. And again, just to hammer home how ridiculous this is, it only launched last month.

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But Steam secures even better version.

After effectively confirming a new Virtua Fighter is planned, SEGA has also announced a big balance update to Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown, the e-sports leaning version of the classic brawler released on the PS4.

This update will deploy in the winter on Sony’s console, alongside a massively improved Steam version of the game on PC.

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Idol issues.

Fans of manga series Oshi no Ko will likely feel right at home with Detroit: Become Human - Tokyo Stories, a new comic inspired by the 2018 universe created by Quantic Dream. This first volume, finally translated into English by publisher Yen Press, follows the story of Reina – an android idol who’s attracted fame and helped change the public’s perception of robots.

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Travel to a new planet early next year.

Honkai: Star Rail has been spinning its wheels for several updates now, but we’re finally on the home straight before major single player update Amphoreus arrives.

Fans of the game will know the Nameless selected the planet as its next Trailblazing expedition earlier in the year, and here’s our very first look at the all-new map, courtesy of the latest Special Program.

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Fantastic early deals are live.

Looking for the best PS5 and PS4 Black Friday deals?

In 2024, Black Friday officially returns on Friday 29th November, but retailers are already jumping aboard the sales hype train by throwing all sorts of tempting discounts at us.

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Graphical issues remain on PS5 Pro.

Bloober Team has today released a new update for Silent Hill 2 that intends to fix the issues the title is facing when it is played on PS5 Pro. It's available to download now and weighs in at 517.1 MB, but it appears that anyone playing on the new upgraded console shouldn't get their hopes up too much for the update to completely solve everything. The testing done by users after installing the update reveals there are still graphical issues with the build.

For example, Twitter user @yrlak responded to the tweet announcing the update with a video of constant flickering and image blotches in an interior environment. Then, on Reddit, it's described how the opening area just outside of Silent Hill still features flickering in puddles and an "annoying shimmer" in reflective surfaces. "The base PS5 still produces a more stable image," claimed user erimiz687.

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New trailer coming very soon.

Paramount and SEGA's upcoming movie Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is hitting theatres in just under a month, and to drum up some hype, it's sent out an extremely cool press package to the media.

Inside a fancy box with some other materials is a SEGA Genesis game box, featuring some custom cover art featuring Sonic, Shadow, and other characters from the film. But what's really exciting is what's inside — a cartridge, and it's not just a replica.

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Some get a deal, but others don't.

The three tiers of PS Plus go on sale today for Black Friday, but whether you actually qualify for the promotion appears entirely up in the air — just like in previous years. On the PlayStation Blog, it's said that new members to the service can claim a 30 per cent saving, and if you're upgrading from one tier to the next, then you can also claim a discount.

These offers are now in effect and are available until 12th December 2024. They're fairly good deals if you are only just signing up for a membership, but just like in previous Black Friday sales from Sony, you're out of luck if you simply want to extend your current PS Plus membership — especially at the PS Plus Premium tier. There's no official offer to extend your subscription at the tier you're already on, and if you're already on the highest one (PS Plus Premium), then there is quite literally no Black Friday discount for you to take advantage of.

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Surely you can't deny Clive, Sony.

It almost doesn't matter what Sony does — nothing can placate the hunger that PlayStation fans have for anything Bloodborne. One of the most beloved exclusive titles to release in the last 10 years, the PS4 action RPG from Japan Studio and FromSoftware is held in incredibly high regard — and everyone is asking for more.

The game's main issue is its ropey performance, with a choppy frame rate a stain on an otherwise fantastic experience. Unfortunately, Bloodborne never received a patch to take advantage of PS4 Pro, which began a sort of embittered attitude among fans that think Sony has abandoned its gothic masterpiece.

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Out for PS5 on 2nd January.

Gacha whales may have to forget about clearing their backlog over the upcoming Christmas break and start to consider playing Wuthering Waves with a New Year's Day hangover, as it's been revealed the PS5 game launches on 2nd January 2025. The release will coincide with a big 2.0 update across all platforms, and cross-progression will be available on the PS5, PC, and mobile.

While the game will be free-to-play, a £7.99 / $9.99 pre-order bundle is up on the PS Store now, offering various in-game items and currencies. If past examples of these pre-launch bundles are anything to go by, they're rarely worth it. You get 500,000 Shell Credit, 10 Wuthercakes, 5 Lustrous Tide, and more. You can view the listing through the link. The new 2.0 update that coincides with the PS5 version's release brings with it a new region, named Rinascita.

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Astro Bot! Silent Hill 2! Rebirth!

One of the biggest PS Store sales of the year, the Black Friday promotion, is live now. With over 500 PS5, PS4 games included, there's a wide range of titles on offer, from new releases to older classics. All the deals will be live until 2nd December 2024.

The sale is live now in the UK and Europe, and now the USA has joined the discount fun with the same range of offers. Here's a list of some of the best deals:

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