The High on Life PS5 and PS4 ports are out right now

Buying one version entitles players to the other. These ports don’t seem to have any new features or content, though. Regardless, studio director Mike Fridley thanked PlayStation owners for their patience.

“The fans have spoken. And spoken. And spoken,” said Fridley. “We’ve been thrilled with High On Life’s reception since it launched in December. Our PlayStation fans have been slightly less thrilled, which is why we’re so excited to share that it’s coming their way very soon. Like now soon! Thank you for your patience!”

This port seemed inevitable, as it was found on a patch update database earlier in the week. Trophy lists for the game were also uploaded to sites like Exophase and PSNProfiles the following day.

Squanch also talked a little about High on Knife, the game’s first expansion, and said it will come to all systems at the same time, meaning PlayStation players won’t have to wait. IGN got an extended look at the DLC and even interviewed two members from Squanch who talked about the upgrades for Knifey, new abilities, and the gun voiced by Sarah Sherman from Saturday Night Live that will all be in DLC.

Squanch also released a trailer for the new port that doesn’t feature Justin Roiland’s name or voice in any way (and it even lists 26 other voice actors). This isn’t too unexpected since news broke that Roiland, who is most known for co-creating Rick and Morty and voicing the titular characters, was arrested and charged with felony domestic battery and false imprisonment. This spurred other reports to come out that alleged he preyed on some minors, harassed his female colleagues, and was generally not an attentive worker. The criminal charges were later dismissed, but this was well after Adult Swim and Squanch had severed ties with Roiland. Roiland wasn’t featured in the DLC’s trailer, either.

The post High on Life PS5, PS4 Versions Out Now With New DLC Gameplay Trailer appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

The Mortal Kombat 1 Kombat Pack has six base roster characters

Another official Mortal Kombat account put the trailer out a tad early before the reveal at Comic-Con, but NetherRealm Studios released the official one shortly after. It appears as though Homelander and Peacemaker have Antony Starr and John Cena’s likenesses, respectively, but it’s not clear if the stars will provide the voices. For context, Sylvester Stallone and Peter Weller voiced Rambo and RoboCop, respectively, in Mortal Kombat 11, but The Terminator was not voiced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Quan Chi and Ermac have long been popular Mortal Kombat characters. However, Takeda is a relative newcomer. He’s Kenshi Takahashi’s son and made his debut in Mortal Kombat X. The pack will also include five Kameo Fighters: Tremor, Khameleon, Mavado, Johnny Cage, and Ferra.

Homelander was the only one given a release window, and will be in the game sometime in spring 2024. The Kombat Pack also comes with one-week early access to each character and the already announced Jean-Claude Van Damme skin for Johnny Cage.

This wasn’t all NetherRealm showed at the panel, as the first trailer had a few other character reveals.

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What is Borderlands EchoVision Live?

This series follows eight all-new characters marooned in Eden-6, a planet from Borderlands 3, as they try to “follow in the footsteps of Vault Hunters and bask in their glory.” Those who tune in will be able to determine what these character do and how they evolve. Genvid CEO Jacob Navok released a statement that explained more about the premise.

“Every decision you make, every moment you participate matters.” said Navok. “This is your chance to make a mark, to leave a legacy in this world. Decisions don’t have a reset button, and are shared by all participants. Borderlands EchoVision Live is another major franchise coming exclusively to the Genvid global platform.”

Chief creative officer at Genvid Stephan Bugaj also detailed what made the Borderlands world good to mine for this type of experience.

“We love the Borderlands universe because the fanbase has fully embraced its focus on diverse characters, heartfelt storytelling, and irreverent humor, traits that fit our communal storytelling format perfectly,” said Bugaj. “Borderlands EchoVision Live is not only a brand new story and cast set in the Borderlands universe, but an exciting new type of experience for the franchise in which the entire audience collaborates and competes to drive narrative outcomes.”

Genvid noted that Silent Hill was going live sometime in 2023, but details surrounding Borderlands EchoVision Live’s release date will come in the future. The studio also announced at Comic-Con that it is making an interactive series based on DC Comics heroes called DC Heroes United.

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The newest Mortal Kombat 1 trailers are full of reveals

This trailer showed that Baraka, Li Mei, and Tanya will be in the main roster as playable characters, the latter two of whom were in the 3D era of games. Tanya was a DLC fighter in Mortal Kombat X, but Li Mei hasn’t been playable since 2006’s Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Darrius was also in the trailer as a Kameo Fighter and has also not been playable since Armageddon. The trailer has gameplay sections for each character, giving users a look at their unique traits and styles.

The story portions revolve around the Umgadi, a collection of warrior priestesses selected from the first-born daughters of Outworld. They are meant to protect the royal family, which is the cause for conflict, as it seems as though Kitana’s father was killed under Li Mei’s leadership.

This panel has a few stars from the game, including Kelly Hu and Yuri Lowenthal. Hu has previously been in the Mortal Kombat series as D’Vorah, Sindel, and Frost in Mortal Kombat X and reprised her role as D’Vorah in Mortal Kombat 11. She is also going to be Ashrah in the upcoming animated Mortal Kombat film titled Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match. Lowenthal plays Smoke in Mortal Kombat 1.

Mortal Kombat 1 has already suffered a few leaks, one of which even detailed a batch of crossover DLC characters that ended up also being in these Comic-Con reveals. NetherRealm showed a second story trailer that had other characters like Motaro and Reiko in it, but it’s unclear if they are playable or just characters.

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The Switchback VR update patch notes describe many texture enhancements

The update patch notes are more detailed than the previous list of changes Supermassive Games revealed. It runs though the general improvements, the biggest of which is support for foveated rendering, which uses eye tracking to render the part of the screen the player is looking at at a higher resolution. Supermassive claims there is also better temporal anti-aliasing, textures, lighting, effects for wet objects, and overall effects, just to name a few. Most of these changes are visual in nature, but the studio has also added dynamic hit reactions to enemies.

These are just some of the alleged upgrades, as Supermassive detailed certain enhancements seen in each level. While quite massive, the studio explained that more support was on the way, but did not detail what was in store.

Players have been waiting for this update since its launch in March. Players and critics almost unanimously called out its muddy or blurry visuals to the point where Supermassive released a statement the following day.

After months of vague updates, the studio noted that it had missed its goal of releasing the update in late June and was aiming for the first two weeks of July. That window passed, which prompted Supermassive community manager Georgina Howlett to say that, despite it being 15 days later, the team meant two calendar weeks.

Here are the full Switchback VR update patch notes:

General

• Introduction of FSR (flexible scaled rasterization) and FR (foveated rendering) support to greatly improve visual quality.
• Enabled Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) for a smoother image
• Optimisation pass throughout the game for improved performance and prevention of objects and textures ‘popping’ as the cart moves.
• Memory usage improvements
• Various crash fixes
• Reduction in loading times
• New and improved models and textures for environment objects
• New higher-quality textures for several enemies
• Improvements to visual effects throughout the game, including fire, headshots and more.
• Added dynamic hit reactions to several enemies.
• Improved lighting in several levels
• Improved the look of fog throughout the game.
• Various fixes and improvements to enemy animations
• Various fixes to clipping issues throughout the game.
• Improvements to headset vibration caused by obstacles.
• Fixes for cart / track audio and haptic feedback on the controllers Improved fading effects for destroyed materials.
• Adjusted position of various objects throughout the game so they are no longer floating.
• Added missing materials to various objects.
• Various improvements to collisions, making it easier to shoot objects.
• Various fixes to checkpoints and reloading levels
• Various adjustments to enemy pathing
• Added shadow casting from the cart light.
• Improved decals like blood and oil
• Added wet effect on hands and weapons when the player is under the rain.
• Loading icon brightens up when spinning faster.
• Turning down audio sound effects no longer turns off haptics.
• Added sound effects to non-damaging head impacts.
• Fixed an issue where the player’s vision got progressively darker in several levels.
• Fixed various streaming issues that cause the environment to ‘pop in’ throughout the game

UI Fixes

• Various fixes to subtitles in several languages
• Various fixes to voiceover and subtitles timings
• Fixed an issue where an incorrect score was displayed on the leaderboard screen after every chapter.
• Fixed an issue where some text was getting cut off at the ‘Journey So Far’ screen in several languages.
• Fixed an issue where subtitles were visible in the pause menu if the subtitle settings were adjusted whilst dialogue is playing.

Haunted Shipwreck

• General
  • New and improved textures for the enemies in these levels
  • Added dynamic hit reactions to zombies.
• Maiden Voyage
  • New and improved fire effects
  • Fixed multiple instances of enemies clipping into the cart.
  • Fixed multiple instances of enemies floating off the ground.
  • Adjusted floating objects throughout the level.
  • Fixed issue with the chain-link fence in the first area changing opacity as you approached it.
  • Adjusted collision on the puzzle assets so only the valves can be shot to trigger them.
  • Fixed an issue with enemies not being close enough to the cart to cause damage.
  • Adjusted the timings of the light flickering in the encounter after the ‘Meat Tunnel’.
  • Adjusted the speeds of enemies in the boat encounter.
  • Reworked the paths and tasks of enemies in the last fight for better timing.
  • Adjusted curtain material to prevent seeing through them Fixed an issue regarding shooting the grenade launcher at the swarm of rats caused the game to crash.
  • Fixed an issue with gaps in the water.
  • Fixed an issue where an enemy left alive behind the cart and could be heard throughout the level, despite being far away.
  • Fixed collisions so the swarm of rats no longer gets stuck on the track.
• Into the Ship’s Heart
  • Fixed an issue where dying after the first branching track did not reset the level.
  • Adjusted floating and clipping assets throughout the level.
  • Fixed an issue with the blood rain visual where sound effects were not playing correctly in the ship’s kitchen.
  • Fixed an issue with broken helicopter blades appearing before the helicopter crash at the end of the level.
  • Adjusted timings on the last encounter with the boss’ attack to prevent the player being hurt too early.
  • Improved the demon dog animations.
  • Balance fixes to the demon dog fights.
  • Added rain haptics on the last outdoor section.
  • Fixed an issue where we could see an invisible barrel exploding when the boss dies.

Cursed Forest

• General
  • Multiple adjustments and fixes to the fog throughout both levels for better visual quality
  • New and improved tree and foliage throughout both levels
  • New and improved fire effects throughout both levels
  • Added more dynamic hit reactions to the enemies.
• Abandon All Hope
  • Fixed an issue in the Black Cat bar where some objects were misaligned.
  • Made the headset vibration more intense during the bus crash.
  • Adjusted collisions on objects to allow for easier shooting.
  • Adjusted the paths of the giant bats in the tunnel.
  • Adjusted the fire visual effects so they no longer clip with the walls inside the burning house.
• Burning Trials
  • Lighting improvements throughout the level
  • Demon in the police station can now be properly interrupted during their attack.
  • Improved the visual appearance of the UV decal.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the dolls to sometimes crawl sideways on the ceiling or walls.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the last demon to not attack during the final phase of the fight.

Forsaken Ruins

• General
  • New and improved textures for the enemies
  • Added more dynamic hit reactions to enemies.
• Ancient Temple
  • Lighting improvements throughout the level
  • Shortened the eclipse scene so that the fight starts sooner.
  • Fixed an issue with Belial clipping into the cart.
  • Fixes to several floating objects
  • Added missing sound effects when the environment changes with the blinking mechanic.
  • Added missing sound effects on the rock falls.
• Into the Abyss
  • Lighting improvements throughout the level
  • Environment improvements throughout the level
  • Fixed an issue where the passenger could still be heard speaking despite being dead.
  • Improvements on timings and other issues with the boss fight

Doomed Hotel

• Enjoy Your Stay
  • Scythes now deal significantly more damage.
  • Fixed several instances of enemies clipping through the floor when appearing.
  • Fixed an issue where shooting the mirrors resulted in blood effects coming out of them.
• Panopticon
  • Visual improvements to the acid traps
  • Fixed an issue where repeatedly shooting one of the animatronics with the stun gun caused it to be pushed through walls.
  • Fixed an issue where shooting through the mattress killed an animatronic on the other side.
  • Significant improvements to the environment, particularly outdoor sections
  • Lighting improvements throughout the level, particularly in the final section

Switchback Levels

• Welcome to Inferno’s Ride
  • New and improved trees and foliage throughout the level
  • Adjusted collisions on objects to allow for easier shooting.
• Frozen Hell
  • Fixed various floating objects, duplicated objects and clipping issues in dolls and mannequins
  • Fixed noticeable holes in icy objects
  • Fixed an issue with voiceover and subtitles being out of sync at the end of the level.

The post Switchback VR Update Patch Notes List Numerous Improvements, More Updates Planned appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

An old video of the Sony E3 2006 conference has made its way online

Noclip Game History Archive uploaded a video of the notorious conference as a part of its preservation efforts. The conference has been available through other channels, but is a little on the fuzzy side, as noted by Giant Bomb’s inferior version of the video that was uploaded in 2016.

While Sony has had some celebrated E3 conferences, like the 2016 one that featured God of War’s reveal and the 2015 show with Final Fantasy 7 Remake, The Last Guardian, Shenmue 3, and Horizon Zero Dawn, this 2006 conference was remembered for its deluge of awkward moments, which seemingly foreshadowed the struggles Sony would go on to have during the PS3 era. It was the source of former Sony CEO Kaz Hirai’s “Riiiiiiiidge Racer!,” the giant enemy crabs meme, and the announcement of the PS3’s shocking $599 price tag, which, when adjusted for inflation, is the equivalent of the PS5 costing around $900 now.

There are also a few trailers of first-party games that were canceled, like The Getaway 3 and Eight Days, giving the show more historical importance that goes beyond memes. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Insomniac Games’ launch title Resistance: Fall of Man, the widely panned dragon game Lair, and the Sixaxis-heavy Warhawk, on the other hand, are among some of the games featured in the show that did eventually get released.

This is just one of many older videos Noclip Game History Archive has put online. This channel is a spin-off of Noclip, an outlet famous for its lengthy video game documentaries on games like Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us Part I, the Demon’s Souls remake, and the fan-made Bloodborne PS1-esque demake, just to name a few.

Noclip came into owning boxes of tapes from GameSpot and has made it its mission to put many of them online, a process founder Danny O’Dwyer (who also used to work at GameSpot) detailed in a recent video. These tapes have contained other higher resolution videos from the past, like the reveal trailer for the first Uncharted, the first trailer for Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, and the 2006 teaser for Metal Gear Solid 4.

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The PS5 Pro is reportedly slated for 2024

According to Henderson on his new site KeyToGaming, the PS5 Pro is codenamed Trinity, keeping with the Matrix codenames for the PS4 Pro and PlayStation VR, which were “Neo” and “Morpheus,” respectively. It has allegedly been in the works since early 2022 and many studios will have their development kits by November 2023. Sony is also apparently trying to target a November 2024 release date for the improved system.

Henderson noted that he couldn’t track down exact specs, but it is being built to have a better and more consistent frame rate at 4K. He also explained that there will be a new performance mode for 8K and better ray tracing. The PS5 does support ray tracing, but it’s often limited, especially within the context of what high-end PCs can do.

This latest report from Henderson is a more detailed update from his report in March. He has also previously reported accurately on Sony hardware. Henderson was the first to reveal details on Project Q, Sony’s wireless earbuds, and the DualSense Edge, all three of which were later confirmed. He also noted again that there is no slim PS5, but doubled down on the PS5 with a detachable disc drive, which he has reported on before.

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When is the Patrick’s Parabox PS5 release date?

Patrick’s Parabox is coming to PS5 (and Nintendo Switch) on July 26. There’s no official price, but the Steam version is $19.99. The trophy list, as listed on Exophase, has gone live a little early and shows that the title has 23 trophies, including a Platinum.

While it simply looks just like box pushing other boxes, Patrick’s Parabox is a recursive puzzler where players enter boxes to solve small puzzles in smaller boxes. There are boxes in boxes in boxes in its 350 or so handcrafted puzzles, as shown in the console announcement trailer that layers in praise as the protagonist goes deeper and deeper into more boxes.

It received an average score of 84 on Metacritic and sits at an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on Steam. The name in the title is also a reference to Patrick Traynor, the game’s developer. Traynor also recently made a similarly recursive and meta game in a game jam hosted by Mark Brown from the popular YouTube channel Game Maker’s Toolkit. In it, he developed Video Editor’s Toolkit where players play a game about editing the video about the game jam.

The post Acclaimed Puzzler Patrick’s Parabox PS5 Version Announced appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Mackie plays John Doe in the show

Smith and Mackie went up against each other in the PS4 port of the 2001 PS2 game Twisted Metal: Black. Beatriz, while briefly shown with a controller, mainly commented on the side. She even wryly pointed out how different Mackie looks from his character in the game, John Doe.

There were only a few moments that showed the actual game, as it was mostly about the three talking about shooting the show, video games, and their memories from the early 2000s. Mackie said he didn’t play too many video games growing up, but he said he played some Atari systems back then. He also noted that it was a “big deal” when anyone got a PlayStation.

Miller said he wanted the apocalypse in the series to happen in 2002 since that’s near the era when these games came out, which were “synonymous with the time.” Mackie said he even got his first car around 2002 and loved playing his music while driving, which is also what his character does in the series.

Twisted Metal is about to have a presence at Comic-Con that not only includes free ice cream from Sweet Tooth’s truck, but also a screening of the first episode before its July 27 premiere date.

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The Spider-Man 2 PS5 accessory pre-orders go up soon

Pre-orders for this special red and black PS5 (with a matching DualSense) go live on July 28 through PlayStation Direct and select retailers, but it’s not clear how much it will cost. And it’s also being released on September 1, a month and a half before the actual game. Despite that gap, it still does come with a download code for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 that can be redeemed when it launches on October 20. This version also includes the game’s various pre-order bonuses.

Those who already own a PS5 don’t need to shell out for a whole new console in order to get a Spider-Man 2 PS5. Sony confirmed that the DualSense and console covers (for both the standard and digital version of the PS5) will also be sold separately. The pre-order and release dates are the same across the accessories, too. The designs on said accessories are, according to Sony, meant to “reflect the intensity of the symbiote and its capacity for transformation and power.”

Sony did something similar for the 2018 PS4 game. It sold a special red PS4 and PS4 Pro with a white spider insignia that were both coincidentally also announced at Comic-Con.

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