Latest news with #PlayStation
Stuff.tv
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Stuff.tv
Hades couldn't save Netflix Games. Are mobile games doomed?
For the longest time, the iPhone was my favourite games platform. In fact, I considered it the greatest gaming device I'd ever owned. Which probably sounds bonkers if you've spent your life welded to an Xbox or PlayStation gamepad. But for me, mobile gaming rekindled something I'd long felt lost. These days, though, Netflix Games has me wondering if mobile gaming's magic is gone for good. Let's rewind. My formative gaming years were during the 8-bit era. People donning rose-tinted specs would have you believe everything back then was amazing and new. It wasn't. The market was rife with rip-offs. You'd see games like Munch Man that featured a legally dubious yellow blob eating dots and evading monsters. But the industry was young and IP owners hadn't yet learnt to throw lawyers at pretenders. Still, it was also a golden age of experimentation, in part because so little had come before. Combined with the severe limitations of early platforms, you had an industry where game creators were freed to get weird. And they often did. It was dizzying, chaotic, and properly exciting. Level up Play Rhythm Tengoku. If this doesn't make you smile, you are DEAD INSIDE. As the years rolled by, I grew more jaded. Part of that's just getting older. But I'd look at a PlayStation and wonder whether everything really had to be in 3D. And as creator teams and budgets ballooned, it felt like creative risks were sidelined. I still bought consoles. My beloved Dreamcast. An Xbox that may as well have had its disc tray welded shut once the magnificent OutRun 2 was safely inside. But it was handhelds that reawakened my love of gaming, especially when they did something that dared to be different. The GBA was a SNES in disguise but nonetheless gave rise to deeply weird games like Rhythm Tengoku and WarioWare: Twisted! The DS was mocked by people for daring to be inclusive, but I loved how it blew up convention with its stylus and touchscreen. And then the iPhone arrived, and it was only a touchscreen. Stream time Play Eliss Infinity. A gorgeous iPhone game perfect for the touchscreen. Alas, long gone. For games, the lack of conventional controls was a problem. Yet smart devs embraced limitations, just as they had in gaming's earliest days. In Apple terms, they really did 'think different'. Gradually, though, enthusiasm was chipped away from creators and players alike as app stores trained everyone that mobile games should be free-to-play IAP-infested monstrosities. Buzz was killed in the name of whales and giants. The last throw of the dice has been mobile gaming as a service. Apple Arcade pitched itself as an HBO Max of gaming before freaking out about retention and heavily pivoting towards casual games with IAPs ripped out. Then Netflix Games, lurking for years, made an audacious play. Included with even the cheapest subscription, it pulled in original titles, Netflix tie-ins, and big names. Street Fighter. Civilization. Braid. Monument Valley. Hades. GTA. Football Manager. World of Goo. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And, er, Hello Kitty. Game over Play Poinpy. Great. Also: long gone. Removed from Netflix Games in June 2025. On paper? Brilliant. In practice? Not enough. Over the past year, Netflix Games has had a tumultuous time, shedding and cancelling games. This week, What's on Netflix reported a full fifth of the library is being pulled, including Monument Valley – which only launched on the service in December – and Hades, one of its best games. Turns out, Netflix is not immune to churn in games any more than films and TV shows. And with devs long cool on mobile and 'all you can eat', I wonder what's next. For Netflix, the linked report suggests the company will perform its own pivot – to 'big screen' games and away from mobile releases, which will be confined to occasional, safe, predictable fare for casual gaming and kids. Sound familiar? Because, ultimately, it always comes back to money. Players don't want to pay for mobile games. Publishers and services are tired of footing the bill for prestige titles no one notices. 12 years ago, I warned on this very site that if we don't pay for what we love, we'll be left with garbage. On mobile, we're nearly there, knee-deep in shovelware, and waving goodbye to the good stuff.
Scottish Sun
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
‘Critical' swap all Playstation users must make NOW to avoid losing money as huge feature shuts down forever
Read on to find out how GAME OVER 'Critical' swap all Playstation users must make NOW to avoid losing money as huge feature shuts down forever PLAYSTATION users are being urged to make a "critical" swap after the gaming giant dropped an important feature. PlayStation Stars is set to come to an end next month, as the company looks to evolve its future Loyalty Programme efforts. 1 PlayStation's loyalty rewards scheme is fully ending on November 2, 2026 Credit: Getty The reward scheme has been a highlight for players over the last three years, with campaigns and purchases that offer points. It was designed as a way to bring communities of PlayStation players together through a loyalty programme that could help users be celebrated. Points are able to be accumulated through playing games, and be exchanged for free store credit to buy new games, or get extra money off their purchase. Vice President at PlayStation, Grace Chen, said in a statement: "Since launching the program, we've learned a lot from evaluating the types of activities our players respond best to, and as a company, we are always evolving with player and industry trends. "Through this evaluation, we have decided to refocus our efforts and will be winding down the current version of PlayStation Stars." PlayStation Stars features PlayStation Stars rewards scheme lets you earn points It first launched as a new loyalty scheme for PlayStation games in Asia on September 29, 2022 Once you join PlayStation Stars, you can earn rewards by completing "campaigns and activities". It's completely free to join, and additional points can be earned when purchases are made on the PlayStation store You can swap those points for PlayStation Store credit PlayStation Store credit can be spent to buy games You can redeem points and claim PSN wallet funds or select PlayStation Store products. Changes to the loyalty programme PlayStation Stars is closing down, and is no longer accepting new members for this version of the programme Current PlayStation Stars members can still earn Digital Collectibles, Points and level up their status until July 23, 2025 at 7:59AM PDT | 3:59PM BST | 11:59PM JST. After this date, there will be no new PlayStation Stars Campaigns available, or any additional rewards or status benefits to earn. Qualifying Points are redeemable until November 2026 This version of the PlayStation Stars program will fully end on November 2, 2026 and current PlayStation Stars members can continue to redeem Points as long as their Points don't expire before then Your points will disappear on November 2, 2026 If you cancel PlayStation Stars today, you can't rejoin and you also lose your points The statement continued: "We want to thank all of our players for supporting PlayStation Stars since the launch in 2022. "As we explore new ways to evolve our loyalty program efforts for the future, we'll continue to celebrate all of our players through the various community activities we have planned." What users can do as the changes come A new campaign which is available to all players, and not just those subscribed to PlayStation Plus, has dropped. 'It's fun as hell' cheer PS5 owners after finding freebie inside consoles and say they 'sure felt stupid' for missing it It is for PlayStation Tournaments, and offers 25 points to players who compete in any PlayStation 5 tournament. Fans have been offering advise on Reddit about which games to play to snap up these points. There are a few options. 'Download EA SPORTS FC 25 SHOWCASE (which is free) and in the game hub select to participate in the tournament," one user noted. Another added: 'You also might be able to use NBA 2K25." Others have recommended playing Naraka Bladepoint due to being a good game to boot up and compete in. The points can be gained after accepting the campaign in the PlayStation app and completing the goal. This should be done before the game is started up. Points will be added within the app, and can be redeemed against the PSN store credit. This is likely to be one of PlayStation Stars' last campaigns, so users should get in quick to claim their credit voucher if already accumulated a good amount of points.
The Irish Sun
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘Critical' swap all Playstation users must make NOW to avoid losing money as huge feature shuts down forever
PLAYSTATION users are being urged to make a "critical" swap after the gaming giant dropped an important feature. 1 PlayStation's loyalty rewards scheme is fully ending on November 2, 2026 Credit: Getty The reward scheme has been a highlight for players over the last three years, with campaigns and purchases that offer points. It was designed as a way to bring communities of PlayStation players together through a loyalty programme that could help users be celebrated. Points are able to be accumulated through playing games, and be exchanged for Vice President at PlayStation, Grace Chen, said in a statement: "Since launching the program, we've learned a lot from evaluating the types of activities our players respond best to, and as a company, we are always evolving with player and industry trends. Read More Tech News "Through this evaluation, we have decided to refocus our efforts and will be winding down the current version of PlayStation Stars." PlayStation Stars features PlayStation Stars rewards scheme lets you earn points It first launched as a new loyalty scheme for PlayStation games in Asia on September 29, 2022 Once you join PlayStation Stars, you can earn rewards by completing "campaigns and activities". It's completely free to join, and additional points can be earned when purchases are made on the PlayStation store You can swap those points for PlayStation Store credit PlayStation Store credit can be spent to buy games You can redeem points and claim PSN wallet funds or select PlayStation Store products. Changes to the loyalty programme PlayStation Stars is closing down, and is no longer accepting new members for this version of the programme Current PlayStation Stars members can still earn Digital Collectibles, Points and level up their status until July 23, 2025 at 7:59AM PDT | 3:59PM BST | 11:59PM JST. After this date, there will be no new PlayStation Stars Campaigns available, or any additional rewards or status benefits to earn. Qualifying Points are redeemable until November 2026 This version of the PlayStation Stars program will fully end on November 2, 2026 and current PlayStation Stars members can continue to redeem Points as long as their Points don't expire before then Your points will disappear on November 2, 2026 If you cancel PlayStation Stars today, you can't rejoin and you also lose your points The statement continued: "We want to thank all of our players for supporting PlayStation Stars since the launch in 2022. Most read in Tech "As we explore new ways to evolve our loyalty program efforts for the future, we'll continue to celebrate all of our players through the various community activities we have planned." What users can do as the changes come A new campaign which is available to all players, and not just those subscribed to 'It's fun as hell' cheer PS5 owners after finding freebie inside consoles and say they 'sure felt stupid' for missing it It is for PlayStation Tournaments, and offers 25 points to players who compete in any Fans have been offering advise on Reddit about which games to play to snap up these points. There are a few options. 'Download EA SPORTS FC 25 SHOWCASE (which is free) and in the game hub select to participate in the tournament," one user noted. Another added: 'You also might be able to use NBA 2K25." Others have recommended playing Naraka Bladepoint due to being a good game to boot up and compete in. The points can be gained after accepting the campaign in the PlayStation app and completing the goal. This should be done before the game is started up. Points will be added within the app, and can be redeemed against the PSN store credit. This is likely to be one of PlayStation Stars' last campaigns, so users should get in quick to claim their credit voucher if already accumulated a good amount of points.
The Sun
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
‘Critical' swap all Playstation users must make NOW to avoid losing money as huge feature shuts down forever
PLAYSTATION users are being urged to make a "critical" swap after the gaming giant dropped an important feature. PlayStation Stars is set to come to an end next month, as the company looks to evolve its future Loyalty Programme efforts. 1 The reward scheme has been a highlight for players over the last three years, with campaigns and purchases that offer points. It was designed as a way to bring communities of PlayStation players together through a loyalty programme that could help users be celebrated. Points are able to be accumulated through playing games, and be exchanged for free store credit to buy new games, or get extra money off their purchase. Vice President at PlayStation, Grace Chen, said in a statement: "Since launching the program, we've learned a lot from evaluating the types of activities our players respond best to, and as a company, we are always evolving with player and industry trends. "Through this evaluation, we have decided to refocus our efforts and will be winding down the current version of PlayStation Stars." PlayStation Stars features PlayStation Stars rewards scheme lets you earn points It first launched as a new loyalty scheme for PlayStation games in Asia on September 29, 2022 Once you join PlayStation Stars, you can earn rewards by completing "campaigns and activities". It's completely free to join, and additional points can be earned when purchases are made on the PlayStation store You can swap those points for PlayStation Store credit PlayStation Store credit can be spent to buy games You can redeem points and claim PSN wallet funds or select PlayStation Store products. Changes to the loyalty programme PlayStation Stars is closing down, and is no longer accepting new members for this version of the programme Current PlayStation Stars members can still earn Digital Collectibles, Points and level up their status until July 23, 2025 at 7:59AM PDT | 3:59PM BST | 11:59PM JST. After this date, there will be no new PlayStation Stars Campaigns available, or any additional rewards or status benefits to earn. Qualifying Points are redeemable until November 2026 This version of the PlayStation Stars program will fully end on November 2, 2026 and current PlayStation Stars members can continue to redeem Points as long as their Points don't expire before then Your points will disappear on November 2, 2026 If you cancel PlayStation Stars today, you can't rejoin and you also lose your points The statement continued: "We want to thank all of our players for supporting PlayStation Stars since the launch in 2022. "As we explore new ways to evolve our loyalty program efforts for the future, we'll continue to celebrate all of our players through the various community activities we have planned." What users can do as the changes come A new campaign which is available to all players, and not just those subscribed to PlayStation Plus, has dropped. 'It's fun as hell' cheer PS5 owners after finding freebie inside consoles and say they 'sure felt stupid' for missing it It is for PlayStation Tournaments, and offers 25 points to players who compete in any PlayStation 5 tournament. Fans have been offering advise on Reddit about which games to play to snap up these points. There are a few options. 'Download EA SPORTS FC 25 SHOWCASE (which is free) and in the game hub select to participate in the tournament," one user noted. Another added: 'You also might be able to use NBA 2K25." Others have recommended playing Naraka Bladepoint due to being a good game to boot up and compete in. The points can be gained after accepting the campaign in the PlayStation app and completing the goal. This should be done before the game is started up. Points will be added within the app, and can be redeemed against the PSN store credit. This is likely to be one of PlayStation Stars' last campaigns, so users should get in quick to claim their credit voucher if already accumulated a good amount of points.
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
Surprise ‘PS6 leak' leaves stunned gamers saying ‘this is nuts' over top-secret details about ‘powerful' new machine
GAME ON Surprise 'PS6 leak' leaves stunned gamers saying 'this is nuts' over top-secret details about 'powerful' new machine Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) TOP secret details about the rumoured new PS6 have been leaked, with gamers left stunned by the "nuts" changes. The next PS6 handheld console is rumoured to be released next by Sony's PlayStation for the next generation of gaming hardware. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 The PlayStation 6 will follow the PS5 as Sony's newest handheld console Credit: Getty KelperL2, who has previously shared information, provided more technical details of what they claim will be part of the new PS6 handheld console on the NeoGAF forum. The post was shared on the GamingLeaksAndRumours Subreddit, which had KeplerL2 state: "The only AMD handheld with AI upscaling anytime soon will be the PlayStation handheld." New technical details of the PS6 KelperL2 also revealed that the portable PS6 will have 16GB of RAM, 16MB MALL cache and 4MB L2. This is more cache and improved memory compression than the PS5, although the handheld will only have 1/3 the memory bandwidth of the PS5. They said: "It's pretty obvious that a mode that cuts bandwidth in half is meant to stimulate the handheld." Improved processing speeds and performance improvements, however, may offset the lower memory bandwidth. They added: "There is no planned Z3 lineup for AMD's next-gen APUs. "The next OEM handheld APU lineup (if it happens at all, as AMD seems to be losing interest in this market) will be with their next-next-gen lineup in 2029. Last year, the leaker also commented in a NeoGAF forum in September that the rumoured PS6 has "two SoCs (System-on-a-Chip) in development for next-gen, idk if it's a Series X/S situation or home console + handheld but probably one of them will be affordable at least". They also speculated about the PS6 handheld on the same forum that it's console is a "15W SoC on 3nm", which is less powerful that the current PS5. PS5 and Xbox owners unlock huge game freebie you only have five days to claim – you don't need even need subscription This sparked speculation about whether the PS6 would even be able to play PS5 if less powerful, but KeplerL2 explained: "It can definitely run PS5 games, just not at the same resolution / FPS (frames per second), mainly due to lower memory bandwidth." They added on another comment from a user: "Hard to estimate performance since it's using an unreleased GPU uarch but I think it's somewhere between XSS (Xbox Series S) and PS5." Another hardware leaker who is a reputable source on Chiphell, zhangzhonhao, also claimed the PS6 console will use AMD's next generation UDNA architecture. The GPU will succeed AMD's RDNA 4 and CDNA by combining them, for possibly enhanced ray-tracing in the light, and is used in the PS5 Pro console. Responses from gamers After details from KeplerL2 were shared on Reddit, gamers responded in the comments. One self-proclaimed active member of the Dev community wrote: "This this nuts and also bonkers". Another added: "This is massive news. "My biggest worry with this handheld was no AI upscaling while Switch 2 has DLSS. "Looks like a very compelling product now." PlayStation release date history Sony has turned out an enormous array of consoles over the years. Here's a list of PlayStation release dates, along with the days of the week that they launched on: PlayStation – Saturday, December 3, 1994 (1st Saturday) PS One – Friday, July 7, 2000 (1st Friday) PlayStation 2 – Saturday, March 4, 2000 (1st Saturday) PS2 Slimline – Friday, October 29, 2004 (5th Friday) PlayStation 3 – Saturday, November 11, 2006 (2nd Saturday) PS3 Slim – Thursday, August 27, 2009 (4th Thursday) PS3 Super Slim – Tuesday, September 25, 2012 (4th Tuesday) PlayStation 4 – Friday, November 15, 2013 (3rd Friday) PS4 Slim – Thursday, September 15, 2016 (3rd Thursday) PS4 Pro – Thursday, November 10, 2016 (2nd Thursday) PlayStation 5 – Thursday, November 12, 2020 (2nd Thursday) PS5 Slim – Friday, November 10, 2023 (2nd Friday) Trends show a six to seven year gap between major console releases, however there is no confirmed date for when gamers can expect to get their hands on the PS6. Predictions suggest Sony's preference for "the second or third week of November", as during the end of the week on a Thursday or Friday or Saturday.
