(Some Of) The Big Stuff:
PlayStation Now Gets Netflix-Style Monthly Subscription Option: Sony finally made it official this week, announcing that PlayStation Now’s Netflix-style subscription package will launch later this month. It’ll cost you either $20/month or $45 for three months, which comes out to $15/month if you subscribe for the full year. The subscription package will be available first on PS4 before coming to other platforms later. Subscribers will have access to more than 100 PlayStation 3 games.
PlayStation 4 Sales Reach 18.5 Million Units: Sony announced another PS4 sales milestone this week, revealing that the super-system has now sold more than 18.5 million units worldwide since its launch in November 2013. In addition, Sony says it now has 10.9 million PlayStation Plus subscribers.
Xbox One DRM Issues: After a curious incident where some Xbox One owners found themselves unable to play Far Cry 4, Microsoft issued a statement Friday to assure fans that it has not changed its DRM policy.
The Other Stuff (Stories We Like, But Didn’t Cover With a Standalone Post):
The annual Consumer Electronics Show was held this week in Las Vegas, and out of it came huge variety of futuristic devices. One of those was the 3DRudder, a peripheral that lets you control games with your feet. Finally.
Got a million hours to spare? The Internet Archive has added some 2,400 MS-DOS games to its collection of classic games, including Commander Keen and Metal Gear. Take a look here
It’s like Humans of New York, but instead of Manhattan, it’s Tamriel. “The Faces of Skyrim” is a new image project from Andy Cull. Head to these Flickr pages to see dozens of amazingly stunning portraits of Skyrim characters. What a beautiful game.
A new Mega-Man game has been announced! But … it’s a mobile game and it’s only available in South Korea. Called Rockman Gogo, the new Android game is an officially licensed title that sees a stylized version of the Blue Bomber facing off against a number of colorful enemies. You can see some gameplay footage here.
Tropico 5 fans have new DLC to look forward to, as publisher Kalypso this week announced “Surf’s Up!” the latest expansion for the city-building game. It’s available now on PC and Mac for $4, and introduces a “zany intergalactic themed” adventure to the game, as well as a new building, avatar accessory, sandbox map, and music track.
Here’s some Entertainment news we think you might like. Marvel Entertainment released the first full-length trailer for its upcoming Ant-Man movie starring Paul Rudd. Check it out above.
The Princess Bride movie may be almost 30 years old, but the brand still has legs, or at least the folks at Gameblend hope it does. They released a new mobile game based on the series this week. It’s based on the movie, so you can expect to fight eels, climb cliffs, engage in sword fights, and wrestle Andre the Giant. Download it today from iTunes for $3.
In the market for new Skylanders? GameStop has announced that today, January 10, shoppers can enjoy the following savings on all-things Skylanders for one day only.
- The first 20 customers at each location will receive a FREE Skylanders mini comic
- Buy a new Trap Master and get an individual Trap for just 99 cents
- Buy a Skylanders Trap Team starter pack for $44.99, that is $30 off
- Two new GameStop-exclusive Eon’s Elite characters are now available, and you can also save $5 on the entire Eon’s Elite series.
Everyone knows what an Xbox is, but what about an OBox? That’s a new microconsole from Chinese company Snail Games. Announced this week during CES, the OBox is a portable, Android-powered gaming device powered by the Nvidia K1 processor. That’s not all, however, as Snail Games also announced another Android-powered handheld gaming device called the W 3D. You can read more about both devices from The Verge.
Adorable kittens aren’t the only animals that can play video games. Here’s a video of a penguin playing iPad games. “Experimenting with many objects to engage the naturally curious birds, aviculturist Sara Mandel found that the penguins took quite a liking to an iPad game she got for her cats,” writes Cool Hunting.
Looking for a new Xbox One gaming headset? The folks at Turtle Beach announced a brand new headset for Microsoft’s console this week at CES called the Elite 800X. Turtle Beach says the new headset will “set a new standard” for performance due to its active noise-cancellation feature and boom-free microphones. It also includes DTS 7.1 channel surround sound, customizable presets, a magnetic charging stand, and swappable speaker plates. It’s expected to launch this spring. Pricing wasn’t announced, but we doubt it’ll be cheap.
Here’s something you probably didn’t expect to read today. Guitar Hero co-creator Charles Huang has written a children’s book about the Chinese New Year, and you can buy it today. The book, called The Great Race: How the Chinese Zodiac Came to Be, it’s a modern take on the classic Chinese Zodiac story.
What are Elon Musk’s favorite video games? Someone asked the SpaceX and Tesla chief that very question during a recent Reddit AMA. He said it was hard to pick a favorite, but explained that BioShock, Fallout, Mass Effect, Civilization, and Warcraft are some of his top titles. Nice choices, Elon!
Curious about the role of music in video games and the business behind it? If so, you’ll want to tune in to next week’s episode of the Renman Live web show, as EA Music Group executive and president Steve Schnur will be the featured guest. During the January 14 show, he’ll speak about the role music plays in EA Games, and lots more.
Which console streams the most porn? PornHub published a comprehensive report for 2014 streaming trends this week, showing that Xbox users are the heaviest streamers of porn from the adult site at 45.7 percent. The next closest was PlayStation at 40 percent, then a huge falloff to Wii at 8.2 percent. You can see PornHub’s full report here; and don’t worry, it’s safe for work.
The latest chapter in the Sony Pictures hacking story unfolded this week, as FBI director James Comey explained in more detail (via The Verge) how it determined that North Korea was behind the widespread and damaging attacks. He went on to definitively say: “We know who hacked Sony. It was the North Koreans. I have very high confidence about this attribution.”
Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine this week published an outline of what it hopes the game will achieve in 2015. Among the new features is a TV-style, episodic quest line. This will roll out “a little at a time,” and Turbine teases that it will see players following “a new friend across Middle-earth, seeing familiar places in a new light.” You can read the full 2015 Lord of the Rings Online outline here.
Want to feel old? Here’s a video of teenagers playing Mario Kart 64. Watch as the teens boast at great lengths about their karting prowess, only to be felled by the mighty (relative) difficulty of that 1996 racing game. What’s even more terrifying is that the video is classified as “retro gaming.”
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