Latest news with #AstroBot
Geek Culture
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
'Astro Bot' Finally Gets Square Enix Representation In Free Update
All right, everyone, let's mosey, as a long-requested character is finally coming to Astro Bot . The latest free update for Team Asobi's adorable platformer will add five new challenge levels to the Vicious Void Galaxy map, bringing the total number of levels to over 90, with more secret bots to rescue. While the name of one stage remains a secret, the other four are confirmed to be Twin-Frog Trouble, Suck It Up, Handhold Havoc, High Inflation. Atsu, the protagonist from Sucker Punch's forthcoming Ghost of Yōtei , has been announced as part of the bot lineup (coinciding with the PlayStation State of Play presentation focusing on the highly anticipated sequel to 2020's Ghost of Tsushima ), alongside two all-too-familiar faces: Cloud and Sephiroth. The former shows up after completing High Inflation, and beating all five new levels unlocks the One-Winged Angel. The iconic Final Fantasy VII pair are hardly the only Square Enix representation — 2B from Nier: Automata and Chrono Cross ' Serge are also due for a cameo in the game. It's a (final) fantasy come true for fans, who have been clamouring for their addition since launch. Astro Bot debuted with a whopping 173 cameos across PlayStation history, from more niche titles like LocoRoco and Legacy of Kain to popular franchises spanning God of War , Uncharted, Horizon Zero Dawn, and more, so the lack of Final Fantasy VII , traditionally associated with the brand in both the 1997 oriinal and remake forms, came as a surprise then. It sure took a while, but hey, better late than never. Astro Bot has received multiple free updates since its release in September last year, and continues to be a shining example of success despite its apparent AA scale. The PS5 exclusive beat various AAA titles to clinch four awards at last year's The Game Awards, with Team Asobi president Nicolas Doucet attributing its success to smaller-scale development. Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth's theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia's greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really. Astro Bot Final Fantasy VII Square Enix Team Asobi
CNET
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
Anti-Prime Deal: Get a PS5 Slim and One of My Favorite Games for $106 Off With This Walmart Discount
If you've been on the fence about jumping into the current generation of 4K console gaming (or have been waiting for a good time to add a Sony PlayStation 5 to your gaming arsenal), today is a good day to make your move. As part of its anti-Prime Day counteroffensive, Walmart has the PS5 Slim console with Astro Bot bundle (packing in one of my favorite games on the platform) for $453, a massive $106 discount. The PS5 boasts impressive graphic horsepower, and the slim variant on offer packs that power into a smaller, more shelf-friendly package. This is also the version that retains its optical disc drive, so you'll still be able to borrow physical games from friends or save money by picking up pre-owned copies of older favorites. However, the features that most capture my attention are packed into the console's included DualSense wireless controller. The controller features haptic triggers, an evolution of the familiar rumble feedback that adds variable resistance and feel to the left and right trigger buttons. It's the sort of thing you have to feel to truly understand. Fortunately, the adorable Astro Bot -- one of the showcases of everything the console and controller's haptics can do -- is included in the bundle. Looking for more Prime Day deals? CNET's text deals are an easy way to keep up with the latest sales. And hey, it's free! Astro Bot is the sequel to the pack-in Astro's Playroom, building out the world of PlayStation's cutesy robotic mascot with platforming stages that showcase the PS5's motion controls, haptic feedback, touchpad and more. If the PS5 supports a feature, Astro Bot puts it through its paces. The gameplay is easy enough for novices or younger gamers to enjoy, while the visuals, clever mechanics and challenge modes kept me, a well-seasoned gamer, delighted for hours on end. Not just a glorified tech demo, this game is also a love letter to PlayStation's storied 30-plus year history with cameo appearances by dozens of characters from beloved first- and third-party titles. Enlarge Image Come for the impressive demonstration of the PS5's capabilities; stay for the hours of fun that Astro Bot provides. Sony Why this deal matters Walmart's PS5 Slim and Astro Bot bundle offers a significant discount, saving you approximately $106 compared to purchasing the console and game separately at their regular prices. This substantial saving means you'll have enough extra cash to grab two additional games from Sony's extensive PlayStation catalog, immediately expanding your gaming library and your fun. Check out the best of Walmart's anti-Prime Day deals for even more ways to save.
Tom's Guide
03-07-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Epic Currys summer sale to fight Prime Day — 25 deals I'd shop from £15 on PS5 games, TVs, appliances and more
Prime Day deals are ramping up at Amazon right now, but not all the best deals of the season come from one place. Right now Currys' summer sale is live with a ton of awesome discounts to tempt you away from shopping at the big A. Right now you can get TVs on sale from £89 at Currys. This includes some of our favorite recent models, like the LG 55-inch C5 4K OLED TV on sale for £1,699 at Currys (£200 off.) We rank LG's flagship as the best OLED TV you can buy. Or, if you want to spend the summer gaming, you can currently grab PS5 games on sale from £15. Keep scrolling to see all my favorite Currys deals. For more savings, see our Currys discount codes page. PS5 game sale: deals from £15 @ CurrysSome of the best PS5 games are included in Currys' sale. You can snag titles like GTA V, Astro Bot, Spider-Man 2 and more. Amazon has a similar sale on with different check: from £15 @ Amazon Grill sale: deals from £19 @ CurrysCurrys is offering some big savings on grills right now. Brands on sale include Salter, Ninja, George Foreman and more. Prices start from just £19. A pair of wireless earbuds with active noise canceling for under £25? You better believe it! These pack in a 10mm driver for big sound and have a transparency mode to keep you aware of your surroundings. You even get 7 hours of battery life on a charge, or up to 24 hours when you use the included charging case. The Magic Bullet Blender is great for athletes or anyone who's trying to eat healthier. It can be used to make a wide variety of health shakes and smoothies; just add your protein powder of choice and you're set! It can also be used to make pasta sauces and guac. The Jlab Jbuds Lux ANC made our list of the best noise-canceling headphones as the best pair for under $100. You get great audio with Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio support, up to 70 hours of battery life and strong active noise canceling capabilities to boot. The FlexBreeze HydroGo is selling out fast. This innovative and portable cooling solution brings the breeze both indoors and outdoors. Plus, with cutting-edge misting technology, it creates a spa-like cooling effect that will see temperatures dropping and life in the sunshine improving. With rechargeable batteries, it can last up to 12 hours, keeping you cool and comfy. TV sale: deals from £89 @ CurrysCurrys has smart TVs on sale for as low as £89. Keep in mind, the cheap TVs tend to be smaller, 1080p models (which are more suitable for a children's room or guest room). However, the sale also includes larger sets. These are among the cheapest TVs we've seen. Note that Amazon and Argos are holding similar check: from £99 @ Amazon | from £109 @ Argos Part of LG's 2025 TV lineup, the LG C5 OLED is here as the value pick of the year. Offering a slew of features, like a range of HDR certifications and gaming specs for the PS5 Pro crowd, the C5 proves a major improvement over its predecessor. We called it "nearly flawless" and gave it a 5-star rating in our LG C5 OLED TV review. TV sale: deals from £89 @ CurrysCurrys has smart TVs on sale for as low as £89. Keep in mind, the cheap TVs tend to be smaller, 1080p models (which are more suitable for a children's room or guest room). However, the sale also includes larger sets. These are among the cheapest TVs we've seen. Note that Amazon and Argos are holding similar check: from £99 @ Amazon | from £109 @ Argos The Bravia 3 sits at the tail end of Sony's 2024 TV lineup, sporting a much more budget price point. It uses a 60Hz refresh rate on Sony's 4K HDR X1 processor, but gamers will enjoy the ALLM support and several PS5-specific features, like Auto HDR Tone Mapping and Auto Game Picture Mode. You also get HDR10/HLG/Dolby Vision support and Google TV. The S90D is one of Samsung's 2024 OLED TVs. The OLED TV features Samsung's new NQ4 AI Gen2 processor, HDR10+/HLG support, 120Hz refresh rate, four HDMI 2.1 ports and built-in Alexa. It also offers 4K AI Upscaling to ensure all programs are crisp and sharp. On the audio front, you get Dolby Atmos and Object Tracking Sound Lite for 3D surround sound. Our Samsung S90D review said, "it offers the best bang for your buck."Price check: £849 @ Amazon Part of LG's 2025 TV lineup, the LG C5 OLED is here as the value pick of the year. Offering a slew of features, like a range of HDR certifications and gaming specs for the PS5 Pro crowd, the C5 proves a major improvement over its predecessor. We called it "nearly flawless" and gave it a 5-star rating in our LG C5 OLED TV review. At the head of LG's OLED 4K TV lineup is the G5. It's one of the brightest WOLED TVs we've tested and gamers will enjoy class-leading gaming features, including four HDMI 2.1 inputs that support 4K gaming at 120Hz or 144Hz, VRR, FreeSync, G-Sync compatibility, and LG's Game Optimizer mode. Simply put, it's one of the best TVs ever made. Our 4.5-star LG G5 OLED TV review called it expensive, but incredible. A pair of wireless earbuds with active noise canceling for under £25? You better believe it! These pack in a 10mm driver for big sound and have a transparency mode to keep you aware of your surroundings. You even get 7 hours of battery life on a charge, or up to 24 hours when you use the included charging case. The Jlab Jbuds Lux ANC made our list of the best noise-canceling headphones as the best pair for under $100. You get great audio with Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio support, up to 70 hours of battery life and strong active noise canceling capabilities to boot. The Bose Ultra Open perfected the open earbud formula. They have a comfortable, non-invasive fit, solid battery life, and they sound better than you might expect from open buds. They got 4 stars in our Bose Ultra Open review, where we loved their simple controls and surprising lack of sound leakage. The 4.5-star QuietComfort Ultra headphones are the best noise-canceling headphones that you can buy right now. That's thanks to Bose's excellent active noise canceling algorithm, which manages to block more noise than any other pair of headphones we've tested. They sound great as well, boast a decent attempt at Spatial Audio, and while the 24-hour battery life isn't the best, they are still a solid pair of cans. Our Honor Pad 9 review said this tablet is great value, and that was at full price. With £100 off, it's even better. While its performance can't beat the iPad's, the Honor Pad 9 delivers a great display, a slim design and 11-hour battery life. What the HP OmniBook X lacks in style it more than makes up in substance thanks to its fast performance and exceptional battery life. Its 14-inch display delivers sharp and clear images, while its touchscreen gives you added versatility for work. Our Asus Zenbook A14 review had a lot of praise for this laptop, but we had mixed feelings about its price. Now that it's on sale for a discount, it's much easier to recommend. It's an extremely portable laptop thanks to its thin and lightweight design, its 14-inch OLED display looks incredible, and it lasted for 18 hours of battery life in our tests. The Magic Bullet Blender is great for athletes or anyone who's trying to eat healthier. It can be used to make a wide variety of health shakes and smoothies; just add your protein powder of choice and you're set! It can also be used to make pasta sauces and guac. Having a slow cooker is essential for making great food really easily, and the Crock-Pot CSC063 is a fantastic choice. It comes with a 7.5-litre capacity, digital controls with programmable timer and an auto keep warm feature that locks food at the perfect temperature for guests to scoop from! The FlexBreeze HydroGo is selling out fast. This innovative and portable cooling solution brings the breeze both indoors and outdoors. Plus, with cutting-edge misting technology, it creates a spa-like cooling effect that will see temperatures dropping and life in the sunshine improving. With rechargeable batteries, it can last up to 12 hours, keeping you cool and comfy. If you want a grill that can do it all, this all in one grill and smoker is a fantastic choice from Ninja. It features a built-in thermometer and is weather-resistant. It's the perfect option if you don't have the space for a standing grill. This is the sweet spot in Dyson's cordless lineup. The V11 hits the perfect balance of power and battery life, and with this discount, it's actually reasonable for what you're getting. The digital display showing remaining runtime is genuinely useful, and the auto-adjust feature means you're not constantly switching heads between floors. If you've been waiting to go cordless, this is your moment.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
PlayStation boss Hermen Hulst wants to develop Astro Bot into an enduring series, calling it one of the consoles "most exciting recent successes"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. PlayStation boss Hermen Hulst has praised Astro Bot, calling it one of PlayStation's "most exciting recent successes." Astro Bot was a breath of fresh air for Sony's first-party output which has been relegated to cinematic third-person action games for the longest time, and embodied the spirit of Japan Studio (it getting shut down is probably the biggest blunder of Sony's 2020s, if you ask me). Since then the game has become one of the most beloved platformers of all time, winning Game of the Year at the BAFTAs and The Game Awards. Sony Interactive Entertainment's business group CEO Hermen Hulst gives the game praise during a recent video presentation (via Genki_JPN). During the talk, he calls Astro Bot one of PlayStation's "most exciting recent successes." Hulst adds: "Astro Bot was a smash hit, achieving universal acclaim among players and critics and sweeping industry award shows." When speaking about growing game IP into franchises, Astro Bot is listed as an "emerging IP," hopefully meaning that we should be getting more Astro in the future, (thankfully). Hopefully the success of Astro Bot shows PlayStation the value in having franchises that don't quite fit into that prestige AAA mold or the live service world. After Japan Studio was shuttered in 2021, it meant the studio which were constantly pumping out unique games and ideas were all but gone (the studio was merged into Team Asobi). But, in an era where big Sony series are taking longer to come out (the PS5 generation will probably almost be over by the time the next Naughty Dog game releases), little games like Ape Escape, Gravity Rush, and Patapon would go down a treat. Sony is "really thoughtful" about bringing PlayStation franchises like God of War and The Last of Us off console, and PS5 games going to PC is a matter of "if", not when.
The Verge
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Astro Bot's director on making a PlayStation icon
Astro Bot is filled with whimsy and silliness that makes you want to pay attention to the details. But in a presentation at this year's Game Developers Conference, director Nicolas Doucet shared one particular aspect of Astro the robot that I hadn't noticed but blew me away. Doucet talked about how Team Asobi worked hard to give the game a good tempo with things like enemy placement and how you can interact with Astro's spaceship with the DualSense's gyro controls on loading screens. One thing that kept the momentum going was Astro himself and how he shows his impatience. Doucet showed a video of one idle animation where Astro is hopping up and down on his feet and pointing forward, almost like a little kid that's demanding you go to the playground. It's adorable — and was added 'very, very late' in development, Doucet says when I chat with him a few weeks after the presentation. While a lot of games have characters simply breathing or looking left to right while they're idle, Team Asobi thought that it could do something a little more fun. Since the game is about rescuing characters, the team started to tie the animations to the idea of looking around, Doucet says. The team even reduced the amount of time it takes for the animations to show as a way to more quickly remind the player of the goal to find the bots. Doucet thinks of this as a subliminal way to put players in the mood to move faster. Astro actually originates from a 2013 PS4 pack-in game called The Playroom that used the PS4 camera. In that game, the robot is named Asobi, but he looks a lot like the charming Astro from Astro Bot: Asobi has big blue eyes and a cute, pudgy robot body. 'Back then, the design of the character came from two angles,' Doucet says. One was that the development team didn't have much time, so they went for a simple character design instead of a human that might require a lot of facial animations. But they also picked a robot because of where it would be making its debut: a preinstalled game on (at the time) new Sony hardware. When you think about Sony or PlayStation, Doucet says that there is an 'aspiration to the future' or something 'a little bit science fiction.' Team Asobi uses the term 'techno magic.' The robot's design came from that: 'we wanted the playful fun character, but also coupled with something really cool and futuristic.' The PS5 hardware and Astro might share a lot of similarities — white plastic with black parts and blue lights — but that's an accident, Doucet says. Instead, both the character designers and hardware team were following similar values. While it's flattering to hear that people treat Astro as PlayStation's mascot, Doucet says that wasn't the design team's original intention for the character. Instead, a mascot needs to be something that 'grows naturally' and something that the users decide or feel. That happens through repeated consistency and quality, Doucet believes. In retrospect, the awards for the game — including Game of the Year at The Game Awards — are well deserved, but the goal was primarily to put platformers and family-friendly games back on the map and release 'as good a game as we can.' Doucet used to look at renowned PlayStation studios like Naughty Dog (Uncharted, The Last of Us) and Santa Monica Studio (God of War), and think they knew some kind of 'black magic' that Team Asobi didn't. But following Astro Bot, the takeaway was that 'actually, it became the sum of lots of small things that are carefully made.' If the team keeps that consistency and makes sure that 'every bit' of the game is done as well as possible, then 'the sum of it ends up being high quality.' No wonder Astro is impatient to explore.
