Dead Things and some Sony stuff!

E3 is Dead

That’s it.

Last week we reported that things weren’t looking good for the iconic video game trade show and mere hours later it was announced the show was cancelled. At this point it’s hard to imagine its return after years of turmoil.

Brisbane boy made big and Reedpop’s Business Development Director for E3 Expo, Guy Blomberg posted on the eve of his birthday.

            “I’m sorry. We genuinely tried.”

April the 1^st is very clever and not terrible at all

It was April Fools this week. The holiday which has become the commercial equivalent of
“Wouldn’t it be funny if we kissed?! Haha that would be so funny unless you want to? Just kidding?”. While the normal dreck of market testing and audience pandering was fully at play some audience pandering stood above the rest.  Primarily there was a surprise drop of a new Sonic game!  In ‘The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog’ players will attend Amy Rose’s murder mystery party where Sonic is the victim. Uncover the mysteries and other such happenings in this short but fun official Sonic Visual Novel available on Steam.

Ark 2 delayed and Ark Survival Evolved shuts down

‘Ark 2’, the sequel to the popular dinosaur themed survival game ‘Ark: Survival Evolved’ has been officially delayed until next year.  Out of the kindness of their hearts however developer Studio Wildcard has announced that a remaster of the original game will be released having been ported to Unreal Engine 5. Despite stating as recently as January that the upgrade will be free, the remaster will be released as part of a bundle with ‘Ark 2’ for $50 USD on Xbox and PC and as a standalone title on PS5 for $40 USD.

They also announced they will be shutting down the official servers for the first game and any DLC purchased for the original game will need to be repurchased for the remaster once they are made available. When the official servers shut down the player data will be made available for players to rehost themselves.

‘Ark: Survival Ascended’ will be available in August while ‘Ark 2’ staring Vin Diesel will be released late in 2024. Maybe.

PSVITA? I hardly knew her

Sony is reportedly developing a new PlayStation handheld device, codenamed the Q Lite. Unlike previous handheld consoles, this device will require constant internet connection and will utilize Remote Play with the PlayStation 5 rather than cloud-streaming. It features an 8-inch LCD touchscreen and adaptive triggers for haptic feedback, similarly to the PlayStation 5 controller. The Q Lite is currently in the QA phase and is expected to release in 2024 alongside other PlayStation offerings including a PS5 with a  detachable disc drive, wireless earphones and a wireless headset.

Access for everyone

Sony is rolling out Accessibility Tags on its online storefront to help identify features in available products. More than 50 tags will be available covering visual and audio accessibility, online communication, caption, control and gameplay options. For full details check out the PlayStation blog.

Release Schedule

April 7 – EA Sports PGA Tour (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC), Curse of the Sea Rats (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

April 12 – Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (Remake) (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC), Tron: Identity (Switch, PC)

April 13 – Ghostwire: Tokyo (Xbox Series X/S)