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.
Here we go again. Sony just announced Ragnarök for PC, but in a video and accompanying blog post it says the game will require a PlayStation Network account. It’s not clear why, and comes weeks after Sony had to back down and reverse plans for a PSN requirement for Helldivers 2 after blistering player reaction.
Earlier today Destiny 2 players were able to access The Final Shape expansion early through Sony’s PS5 cloud streaming service. Now Bungie has responded, confirming the leak and saying “it’s always extremely difficult when our team’s hard work is leaked early, but we are still excited for everyone to experience the full release on June 4th together.”
It’s no secret that the PS5 has entered the “latter stage of its life cycle” with Sony resetting sales expectations in February. Today’s earnings report shows it just missing that revised 21M target by selling 20.8 million consoles for the fiscal year.
We’ll see if the rumored PS5 Pro helps change the trajectory before the year is done.
Aibo — Sony’s “Four-Legged Entertainment Robot” — hit the shelves in 1999, to the utter horror of parents (like my own) who had barely recovered from Furbies launching the year prior.
Happy 25th birthday you old dog! My inner child is heartbroken to have never owned you, but my now 30-year-old self will happily skip the current model’s near $3,000 price tag.
Sony’s plan to force PlayStation Network accounts on PC players of crossplatform hit Helldivers 2 went over terribly. On Steam, it received 84,000 negative reviews in one day.
But now Sony says the update that would’ve implemented the requirement on May 6th is not going forward and “we’ll keep you updated on future plans.”
Paramount has formally begun negotiating with the company as the “period of exclusive talks with the Hollywood studio Skydance lapsed on Friday night,” according to The New York Times today.
Sony, which signaled its interest in buying Paramount last week, would reportedly hold controlling shares, while Apollo would have a minority stake, if the deal goes through.
When Nintendo shut down Super Mario Maker’s servers, it gave players over three years to enjoy and document their own work before the bitter end.
But PlayStation isn’t giving fans time to say goodbye: it’s yanking the rug. Hope you saved a copy of your level locally!
That is the name of this segment on The Vergecast about Sony’s new Bravia 9 series that’s ready to challenge OLED.
How much do they cost? That’s harder to discuss, despite David’s prodding.
The Bravia 9 retails for $3,299.99 — and that’s just for the 65-inch model. Going up in size from there, it’s $3,999.99 (75-inch) and $5,499.99 (85-inch).
Or they will, in a new movie called Fly Me to the Moon, from Apple Original Films (and distributed by Sony Pictures). The movie imagines Johansson and Tatum as Kelly Jones and Cole Davis, who are given the directive to film a fake Apollo landing just in case the real one goes sideways.
It hits theaters July 12th.
