Grave Gamer News & Views — gamescom

PlayStation 4 Release Date Finally Announced

Sony’s Gamescom conference today brought much in the way of news for just about everything slapped with the PlayStation logo today.  I’ll get to the notables in a tic, but I wanted to get it out of the way since Sony’s hour and a half conference was an hour and fifteen minutes of too much foreplay:

The PlayStation 4 is launching November 15th in North America and November 29th in Europe.

We were already treated to the revelation that a PS Plus subscription is the new requirement for online play (but, gracefully, little else, meaning services like Netflix won’t be barred from use without Plus).  With your PS4 purchase, however, Sony is throwing in a 14-day trial of the service at no cost.

Additionally, Music Unlimited – the PS3’s, uh, unlimited music service – is back in a modified form where you can easily access it by pressing the DualShock 4’s PS Button, allowing you to play music in the background of any and all games.  As someone who is swayed by a custom tracks option even if the PS3 version of a game is technically superior, this is a triumph (I’m sorry Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, I cannot listen to your bullshit loop indefinitely in my eardrums).

Also, those looking for style in their accessories will be pleased as a plum to see the Magma Red and Wave Blue DualShock controllers (above) releasing alongside the console, priced at $59.99.  You’re gonna earn yourself a hard, squinted look from me if you ask which one I’m springing for.

PS Vita’s Price Dropkicked

The thing that needed to happen, thankfully, went and happened.  Sony’s impressive yet struggling handheld, the PlayStation Vita, has taken a $50 price cut, dropping its tag to $200.  Additionally, Sony promised the bloated pricing found on the system’s proprietary memory cards will see a significant reduction in the future.

Remote Play functionality, in which PS4 games can be remotely streamed via WiFi to the handheld turning the Vita into a second-screen controller, will be found on “almost every” title according to the company.

Increased affordability and unique compatibility with PlayStation’s next household device, along with an up-spike in third-party support – yes, Borderlands 2 on the system is a humongous win –  may just surge some life into the Vita (it’s a pun if you know Italian; it’s also a bad pun if you know humor).