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A world of adventure and death-defying stunts await PlayStation players this week thanks to a tremendous lineup of new games. Quest through enchanting vistas in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, or skim the clouds atop a motorbike in Trials Fusion.

The critically acclaimed MMO Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn formally launches on PS4 this week, opening Eorzea to the gaming masses. The massive adventure, rife with blades, spells, and quests, arrives on PS4 with enhanced visuals compared to its PS3 counterpart. Travel alone or with well-armed company in an effort to purge Eorzea of its evils and win fame and fortune.

Adrenaline addicts can look forward to Trials Fusion, which also lands on PS4 this week with high-flying tricks, outrageous courses, and a global leaderboard to climb. Race through the latest entry in this fan-favorite series and prepare for a few broken bones along the way — it’s not a walk in the park, people.

And the PS Vita shares some of the spotlight this week with No Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either! Chain together combos, collect power-ups, and vanquish those pesky heroes that dare invade! Or forge relationships in Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars, and fashion a team of heroes with the power of… classmating.

Read on for a complete list, and enjoy the Drop!

New PlayStation Releases This Week Backgammon Blitz PS3, PS4, PS Vita — Digital Experience a game played for centuries, realized with cutting-edge visuals and new ways to play. Challenge a friend or play online. Learn the rich strategy and rhythm of backgammon and graduate from pupil to master. Beyond: Two Souls PS3 — Digital (Already Available at Retail) Witness the latest thriller from the experienced storytellers at Quantic Dream. A supernatural tale following the haunting and difficult life of Jodie Holmes as she deals with her life-long connection to the spirit world. Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars PS Vita — Digital, Retail Monsters have invaded the world, and only those imbued with the power of the Star God can face them. But with so few warriors and so little time, the heroes must fuse their star power together to make magical Star Children. EA Sports 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil PS3 — Digital, Retail Live the fun, drama, and thrill of football’s greatest event. Experience the renowned play of FIFA 14 with a plethora of improvements, including 100 new animations. Compete in authentic Brazilian stadiums and feel the energy of the World Cup at every play. Ethan: Meteor Hunter PS Vita — Digital (Already Available on PS3) Navigate deadly puzzles as a super-powered rat, manipulating the environment to unravel physics-based challenges. Play through more than 50 levels across three different worlds. Instant respawns encourage “just one more try” play, even after repeated (and grisly) deaths. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn PS4 — Digital, Retail (Already Available on PS3) Explore a land embraced by gods and forged by heroes. A robust MMO boasting a flexible class system that enables players to switch roles on a whim. Partake in bountiful quests and seek glory on the fields of battle in the continuation of the Final Fantasy legacy. Hyper Crazy Climber PSone Import — Digital Released in Japan in 1996, this arcade classic tasks players with climbing up dizzying heights, dodging dangerous obstacles along the way. Choose between three characters and get climbing up clock towers, bean stalks, and haunted skyscrapers. No Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either! PS Vita — Digital A free-to-play puzzle game with a devious sense of humor. Master the puzzle system, build up devastating combos, and defeat a train of obnoxious heroes. Because no heroes allowed, obviously. Pure Chess PS4 — Digital Experience one of the oldest board games in the world with realistic visuals, stunning backdrops, and varying sets. Learn the immense strategy of chess and climb ever closer to the coveted rank of grandmaster. That Trivia Game PS4 — Digital Face the AI or up to three friends in That Trivia Game. Featuring more than 1,000 questions spread across 20 different categories. Match wits at every round with 24 character combinations. Trials Fusion PS4 — Digital, Retail Soar through the air and take on a jaw-dropping array of platform-racing challenges. Traverse obstacles and hunt for the top spot on global leaderboards with incredible tricks, and keep searching for the next insane track to tackle. Demos and Betas Backgammon Blitz — PS3, PS4, PS Vita Demo
Trials Fusion — PS4 Demo

The information above is subject to change without notice.

If you have trouble making it out to Boston or Seattle, you might be in luck.

The resolution for Watch Dogs on the Xbox One seems uncertain and Blizzard reveals Heroes of the Storm new characters.

The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog has teamed up with publisher Dark Horse Comics to produce The Art of Naughty Dog, a compendium featuring rarely seen character designs, renders and concept artwork from the studio's back catalog.

The Art of Naughty Dog will cover the studio's early days - back when it was founded as JAM (Jason and Andy Magic) Software - up to its recent work with The Last of Us and the Uncharted series. Artwork from the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter franchises will be showcased throughout, and with any luck, the team's lesser-known efforts for the Sega Genesis and 3DO will also get their dues.

Naughty Dog will host a launch event for the book later this year. A release date was not announced. [Image: Naughty Dog]

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PlayStation’s World Wide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida joins us for this week’s epic show, dishing out his thoughts on Dark Souls II, Project Morpheus, and his current favorite games. Plus: New details on MLB 14 The Show on PS4, next week’s new releases and much more. Buy now!

Stuff We Talked About

• Pure Chess and Backgammon Blitz on PS4
• Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn for PS4
• Trials Fusion for PS4
• Deception IV for PS Vita
• Luftrausers
• Ask Shu!
• MLB 14 The Show for PS4
• Destiny of Spirits for PS Vita
• The origin of Shuhei’s Twitter handle
• …Dark Souls II. Sorry

Recent Episodes

• Episode 115: Light and Dark
• Episode 114: Batfriends
• Episode 113: Meet Morpheus

Send us questions and tips: blogcast@playstation.sony.com or leave a voice message! 650-288-6706 The Cast

• Sid Shuman – PlayStation Social Media Manager
• Shuhei Yoshida – President, SCE Worldwide Studios
• Justin Massongill – PlayStation Social Media Specialist
• Ryan Clements – PlayStation Social Media Specialist

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

• Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.

Hi! I’m Rob Karp. You may remember me from my role as producer in the multi award winning XDev Studio, where I worked on a number of Sony’s first party titles over the last few years. Today I want to tell you about my latest venture, which is coming as a time-limited exclusive to PlayStations everywhere. It’s called Backgammon Blitz!

Backgammon has been played for centuries by gamers young, old and ancient. It appears to be a simple game about getting your checkers around and off the board before your opponent, but it has immense layers of depth and strategy to it.

I’m just the messenger, of course. The talented folks behind this lovely little title are VooFoo Studios. Having made a name for themselves with Hustle Kings and Pure Chess, Backgammon feels like a step onwards and upwards for the studio, taking all of their strengths – gorgeous art design, a subtle but stylish approach to UI – and none of their weaknesses – cake night each Friday has always been their Achilles heel – into the next generation of platforms.

Speaking of awesome visuals, check out the beautiful screenshots in this post, taken from in the game!

Backgammon Blitz is launching this winter on PS4, PS3, and PS Vita. The team are so keen to whet your appetite for the world of backgammon that they’re offering a trial version of the game that’ll teach you the rules in an instant… And if you upgrade to the full game, you’ll get seamless a-sync cross platform play that’s so quick it feels like realtime multiplayer, as well as a brand new arcade mode called Blitz! With more action and more tactics needed, can you become the Blitz Master?

Though Shuhei Yoshida now serves as the head of Sony's PlayStation arm, he once worked under former PlayStation CEO Ken Kutaragi - a man who Yoshida praises, while also noting his mercurial nature.

In a lengthy look back at the last two decades of PlayStation transcribed by Engadget, Yoshida says that working under Kutaragi was "incredibly difficult," as the executive had a habit of changing course on a dime, demanding his team go in an entirely different direction without any forewarning. "Every week his direction and instructions could change," Yoshida said.

Kutaragi was also hesitant to offer his employees direct praise. "I was complimented by Ken twice," Yoshida said. "When I say this to my colleagues, they say, 'Twice? That's a lot.''' Despite Kutaragi's hard-edged management style, Yoshida contrasts his complaints by adding, "But still, we all love Ken."

For more from Shuhei Yoshida, take a moment to pore over that Engadget piece. Yoshida is unexpectedly candid, offering insight on everything from his time in school, to the birth of PlayStation, to the launch of the PlayStation 4. Yoshida's version of history is understandably biased toward his employer, but it remains a vital glimpse at the history of the gaming industry. [Image: Wikimedia]

Step-by-step instructions on how to get a three-day head start on other PS4 players.

Yesterday, Wizards of the Coast revealed Magic 2015 for various pieces of hardware. But PlayStation consoles were conspicuously absent. Why?

Developer Tribute Games also plans on bringing Curses n' Chaos and Ninja Senki DX to Sony's portable platform.

Hi PlayStation.Blog readers! This is Walid, producer at Spiders Studios. With the upcoming launch of Bound by Flame — our latest game and our first RPG for PS4 — we decided to tease you a little more with our combat system, via an extensive combat trailer explaining its mechanics. Enjoy!

Bound by Flame features real-time combat that’s tactically deep, dynamic, and spectacular. Defeating your enemies won’t be an easy task, as every single monster and creature you’ll encounter has its own behavior, strengths, and weaknesses you’ll have to exploit in order to tear them into pieces.

You’ll be given access to three different skill trees to develop your character, each tree with its own unique abilities. The Warrior uses two-handed swords, axes, and war hammers to break his enemy’s defenses and inflict heavy damage, while the stealthy Ranger dual wields daggers to sneak up on his enemies for devastating backstabs — and then fights the survivors in fast-paced melee combat. The Pyromancer channels the fiery powers of the demon: hurl fireballs, light your weapon on fire, invoke flame spirits, and much more.

In combat, you’ll be able to toggle between the Warrior and Ranger stances in the blink of an eye, to adapt your tactics on the fly according to the enemies you’re facing. The rich bestiary of Bound by Flame will throw strong and varied foes at you; some of them might inflict poison, while others will use long range attacks. Even stronger enemies will try to tear you apart with powerful melee strikes.

Crafting plays a critical role in Bound by Flame. Nearly all weapons and pieces of armor are customizable, letting you improve their effectiveness while also adding beneficial bonuses that suit your fighting style. Adding a new pomel to a sword may greatly increase your damage, but it could also reduce your attack speed. Choose wisely before crafting new components to your equipment!

Your chosen companion will also be a decisive component for victory. Do you need a defensive healer, an unyielding tank, an aggressive sorcerer, or an elusive archer? Select carefully, because if you throw yourself into battle without any plan in mind and no ally to watch your back, you’re more likely to get overwhelmed by your opponents.

If you want to know more about Bound by Flame, don’t hesitate to visit our official website and the official Facebook Page. I’ll stop by from time to time to answer comments, so if you have any question, just ask!

Yes, you read the headline right. Back in 1984, Andrew Gavin and Jason Rubin formed a company called JAM (Jason and Andy Magic) Software. Five years later, after finding new publishing support, the game development company with the very 80′s name incorporated as Naughty Dog, Inc. Fast forward to 2014, tally up more than seventy million games sold globally, and we’re now celebrating thirty years of making awesome games.

One of the hallmarks of Naughty Dog has always been our top-notch artistic quality and talent. We’re paying tribute to that this year as we’re teaming up with Dark Horse Comics to release The Art of Naughty Dog.

The Art of Naughty Dog will be available later this year. It will span the history of Naughty Dog and feature hand-picked, never-before-released artwork depicting our past, present, and future. Being around for thirty years has bestowed upon us all kinds of incredible art from our amazing fans. Select fan art will be a chapter of the book as well. To mark the occasion properly we’re having a book launch event later in the year. We’ll have more details once the pages and the plans are ready.

We’ll have other celebratory merchandise available and we have some special events planned over the next few months. We’re currently at PAX East with the rest of our PlayStation family and there are hints at what’s coming for our anniversary in our activities there. Also, if you didn’t hear the news, it was recently announced that we are participating in Operation Supply Drop’s 8-Bit Salute. We encourage you to check out Team Naughty Dog’s fundraising page today.

This kicks off several anniversary announcements happening over the coming months. Turning thirty is going to be a fun year for us all. Get ready to celebrate with us!

Operation Supply Drop Inc., 9301 Alvyn Lake Circle, Bristow, VA 20136, (412) 370-3665. Operation Supply Drop is a 501(c)(3) organization, Tax ID: 27-3842517, mission statement.

MonkeyPaw Games has another import retro title ready. You better have a good grip because you’ll be climbing your way to the stratosphere. Our newest game is Hyper Crazy Climber, a series that has roots all the way back to the start of arcades.

Hyper Crazy Climber is a sequel to Crazy Climber. As you likely guessed, with Hyper Crazy Climber the challenges are more hyper, crazier, and climb…ier.

The goal for each level is to start at the bottom of a tower and navigate the level while avoiding obstacles to reach the top. It might not sound too difficult, but that isn’t the case at all.The controls were designed to be difficult to master, and you’ll need to operate the left and right side of your character independently to reach the summits. It’ll take expert hand-eye coordination to gracefully climb your way to the peak of beanstalks, clock towers, and other tall structures.

Hyper Crazy Climber originally launched in Japan in 1996 for the PSone. It’s a continuation of the arcade games, and the first time a new entry in the Crazy Climber series found a home on consoles. Here are some gaming fun facts: the Crazy Climber series was the first video game to ever feature a character climbing or scaling large structures — and this is the first time Hyper Crazy Climber will be available in North America.

Starting April 15th, you’ll be able to download the game from PlayStation Store for your PS3 and PS Vita as a cross buy title.

If you missed our first announcement, then hear us roar again. For the first time ever, five of PlayStation’s Worldwide Studios community teams have banded together to construct a community focused booth at PAX East. Additionally, there will be some great PS4 and PS Vita games showing at PAX from some of our talented indie developers as well, which we will detail below. The PlayStation family will be in booth #608 at the Boston Convention Center April 11-13. Not only will we be selling exclusive merchandise and highly collectible PlayStation memorabilia, but you can also discuss, share, and create PlayStation memories with community team leads from Guerrilla, Media Molecule, Naughty Dog, Sony Santa Monica, and Sony Xdev.

Wait! There’s more! We have a slew of daily booth and online activities planned for all attendees, even those who cannot make it to Boston. Join the conversation today and continue it all show long by using #PSPAX whenever you talk about PAX or PlayStation online. Here’s the grand rundown of events and our full booth schedule below!

PlayStation Loves Indies

Come check out a few of the Indie games that will be at PAX:

Game Developer Platform Booth Transistor SuperGiant PS4 Supergiant Booth Secret Ponchos Switchblade Monkeys PS4 Indie Mega Booth Source FenixFire PS4 Indie Mega Booth Sportsfriends Die Gute Fabrik PS4 Indie Mega Booth Octodad: Dadliest Catch Young Horses PS4 Indie Mega Booth Guacamelee! STCE Drinkbox PS4 Indie Mega Booth Nuclear Throne Vlambeer PS4 Indie Mega Booth Hand of Fate Defiant PS4 Indie Mega Booth Race the Sun Flipfly PS Vita Indie Mega Booth

Share with #PSPAX to win

Create or find any of the PlayStation symbols – Square, Triangle, Circle, and Cross – from wherever you are in the world and post pictures or video directed at us on Instagram or Twitter. Every day during PAX East our PlayStation studios will select random winners for our mystery prizes, which include the rare Tearaway PAX Exclusive Iota pinny!

Follow our studios on Twitter and Instagram, and then participate by sharing your photos and videos using #PSPAX. You must include #PSPAX in the post to enter. There is no limit! Let your creativity rule!

Cosplayers: Come one, come all

If you are cosplaying at PAX East as any PlayStation character, stop by our booth, and we’ll award you the Tearaway PAX Exclusive Iota pinny while supplies last. Let’s see your best PlayStation character! We like cosplay!

Daily booth contests

The following contests will be running all day, every day at our booth:

Killzone Shadowfall Botzone Challenge

Take on the Botzone Deathmatch challenge to rack up as many bot kills in the set time. The daily Top 3 on our PAX Killzone Leaderboard will claim Dogtags, DLC Season Passes, signed posters, and a Custom Killzone Dualshock 4 controller.

Sound Shapes Speed Run

Race the music of Deadmau5 “Invaderoids” in Sound Shapes. The Top 3 daily fastest times on our PAX Sound Shapes Leaderboard will win a bundle of DLC, full game codes, and a rare poster.

Name That Tune

How well do you know our PlayStation music? We’ll be blasting tunes from our games all day at the booth. Find the designated “jar next to our speaker” and tell us a game you think the music is from. Random correct winners will be selected at the end of every day for great prizes.

Our live booth schedule

You didn’t think we’d just stand around flipping PlayStation controllers in the air now did you? We have a number of live activities planned every day at our booth, so stop by frequently!

PlayStation Community Town Halls

Every day at PAX East during the various times noted in the schedule below, each of our PlayStation studios will be taking the mic at our booth to answer your questions live in-person. We call it our “Community Town Hall”. We’ll be fielding all questions and aiming to share more about what we do as Community Managers at each of our studios, tidbits related to our current games, studio culture, and why it’s awesome being inside the development of great games. This is your opportunity to get to know us in a very fun, informal way. See the full schedule below.

Friday

11AM – Trivia Contest with Naughty Dog & Media Molecule
12PM – Tearaway Poster Giveaway
1PM – Community Town Hall with Media Molecule – Get To Know Us!
2PM – Trivia Contest with Sony Santa Monica & SonyXDevEurope
3PM – Tearaway Poster Giveaway
4PM – Trivia Contest with Guerrilla Studios

Saturday

11AM – Trivia Contest with Guerrilla Studios
12PM – Tearaway Poster Giveaway
1PM – Community Town Hall with Naughty Dog – Get To Know Us!
2PM – Trivia Contest with Naughty Dog & Media Molecule
3PM – Trivia Contest with Sony Santa Monica & SonyXDevEurope
4PM – Community Town Hall with SonyXDev – Get To Know Us!
5PM – Tearaway Poster Giveaway

Sunday

11AM – Trivia Contest with Sony Santa Monica & SonyXDevEurope
12PM – Tearaway Poster Giveaway
1PM – Community Town Hall with Sony Santa Monica – Get To Know Us!
2PM – Trivia Contest with Guerrilla Studios
3PM – Community Town Hall with Guerrilla Studios – Get To Know Us!
4PM – Trivia Contest with Naughty Dog & Media Molecule
5PM – BLOWOUT GIVEAWAY! WHATEVER WE HAVE LEFT!

Whew! We’re going to have some sore throats when all is said and done but there’s just one more thing…the Molecules and all of us want to make sure the PAX Exclusive Iota Pinny will get in the hands of those who interact with us. The pinny game of PAX has a simple rule: trade or kindly ask for it. Chat with any of us at the booth wearing a World Wide Studios PAX T-Shirt and perhaps we will pin Iota to your lanyard, shirt, or give to you at our discretion. Maybe we’ll even trade you for an Ellie pinny.

The PAX PlayStation Community Exchange is a constant conversation, come join and get to know us. We can’t wait to see you all! #PSPAX

The iconic football management series debuts on Vita, complete with cross-save functionality.

The Merc with the Mouth has set a world record you probably weren't even aware of.

Control Ethan the rat's superpowers with your PS Vita's touch controls.

The Dodgers and the Giants have the longest standing rivalry in baseball.

Over 2,300 matchups; only 22 wins separating the two teams.

In the tradition of this rivalry, MLB 14 The Show — in partnership with IGN — would like to start a new one…

Puig vs. Pence:

On Monday, April 14th at 11:00 AM Pacific, San Francisco Giants Right Fielder Hunter Pence and Los Angeles Dodgers Right Fielder Yasiel Puig will face off in MLB 14 The Show for PS4.

This special event — streamed LIVE from IGN HQ in downtown San Francisco — will feature two MLB superstars (and two of MLB’s biggest gamers) as they compete in various modes of the highly anticipated, next-generation baseball sim. The stream will deliver more than an hour of footage from the PS4 version of MLB 14 The Show, plus questions from the community for the athletes and also game designer Ramone Russell, who’ll be on hand to walk viewers through what they can expect from The Show on PS4.

Whether you’re a baseball fan, a fan of The Show, or even if your only interest is PlayStation, you won’t want to miss this.

Here’s a link to the stream, produced and broadcast by IGN, which will go live Monday morning.

IGN will debut the first-ever live gameplay footage of the PS4 version of MLB: The Show, with special guests Hunter Pence and Yasiel Puig.

(This post is about Road Not Taken, Spry Fox’s upcoming roguelike for the PS4 & PS Vita. If this is your first time hearing about RNT, check out our trailers here!)

PAX East is nearly upon us! We will be there, and for the first time ever, be making a playable demo of Road Not Taken publicly available for all to enjoy!

This may have triggered a wee bit of panic in our studio.

Suddenly, all the little bugs we’ve been ignoring demand attention. That crash that occasionally happens during the first mission? Must-fix! Slow loading times? Speed those suckers up!

Aside from fixing a boatload of bugs, we’ve also been spending a lot of time tweaking the first mission of the game, since that’s what most people will experience at PAX. Initially, we didn’t worry about it much. After all, we have a tutorial that we’ve revised at least a dozen times. The first mission just has to be “relatively easy” and all will be well, right?

Nope.

While the core mechanic of Road Not Taken is relatively simple, there are dozens of unusual objects and creatures you encounter in the game, and almost all have secrets to them. Initially, it was possible for many of those unusual objects and creatures to spawn inside mission one. We were reluctant to remove them because we were afraid it would make the game feel shallow and boring. But it turns out that immediately after going through the tutorial, a stripped-down mission one is exactly what most players want! They need more opportunity to practice the things they’ve learned. They want to know there are dozens of secrets in the game, but they want to experience pretty much all of those secrets a little later. Obvious in retrospect.

For example, in Road Not Taken, we’ve got some mysterious floating spirits that haunt the forest. They are the key to a bunch of cool tricks. They’re also a huge pain in the butt once you get really low on energy (at which point, they convert into “doom spirits” and hunt you down.) They were blowing our playtesters’ minds in mission one, so we’ve pushed them out to mission two. Now playtesters seem intrigued by them instead of overwhelmed. Mission accomplished.

We’re working day and night to continue polishing the demo in preparation for PAX. It’s nerve-wracking, exciting, exhausting and exhilarating. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been up to! :-)

What does the Spry Fox say Audio Contest!

In related news, we’ve also been adding a bunch of new creatures to the game. One of those creatures is very close to our heart:

Yep, there’s a spry fox in Road Not Taken! But there’s just one problem… we don’t know what he says! So we’re holding a contest for the best fox sound! Check out our contest announcement video:

Contest submissions will appear on our YouTube channel. Submissions with more likes will have a higher chance of winning, so check back often to check out the competition or like your favorite entries!

For the full details about how to participate in the contest, terms of participation, and more, please visit our blog. This contest is created and managed exclusively by our studio, Spry Fox. Sony is not affiliated.

A dread memory hangs above your head. A haunted castle stands in your way. And your family has struggled for generations in the name of redemption and fortune. In Rogue Legacy, players embark on a harrowing quest in a retro-style Roguelike, filled with brutal challenges and hundreds of upgrades. Rogue Legacy is coming to PS3, PS4, and PS Vita, with all the dark humor and alluring secrets that made it an indie hit on PC.

We spoke with Cellar Door Games Co-founder and Game Designer Teddy Lee about how the team built this addictive RPG, and why they approached the Roguelike in a new way. See below for the full interview, and Teddy’s insight into the design process.

Kenny Lee, Teddy’s brother and Cellar Door co-founder, also notes:

We hope you’re as excited about the release of Rogue Legacy on PlayStation as we are. Releasing a game on consoles has always been a milestone and a bit of a dream for us, and we never would have taken that step forward without your support and enthusiasm. It means a lot to us, and we know we couldn’t do it without you. Thank you so much. For those planning on playing on PS4, make sure to share your videos because we can’t wait to see them!

he Last of Us: Remastered has received its first trailer on PS4, offering us an oh-so-brief glimpse at the updated 1080p graphics.

Hey, PlayStation fans! Quick backstory: we were making this game, and market research showed us that people who own PS4s like games. After extensive trend analysis and writing numbers down on paper in the hopes of making it look like we knew basic mathematics, we made the executive decision to bring our title, There Came an Echo, over to the Sony side of town. There’s a trailer above, which you should probably watch, but if you didn’t, it’s okay, we’re cool.

There Came an Echo is, if you’ll pardon the torrent of hyphens, a voice-controlled squad-based real-time strategy game. You don’t play directly as the soldiers in the field, but rather as the tactical commander, issuing strategic orders via headset. Ever felt annoyed when someone in your earpiece told you what to do in a blockbuster, AAA first-person shooter? Well, now, you’re the someone in the earpiece. Some direct influences on the game include X-COM: Enemy Unknown and Tom Clancy’s EndWar.

A lot of you might feel a little antsy about voice recognition. And we understand! But we’d encourage you to turn on your Playstation 4 and give the basic OS voice commands a shot. (It was, in fact, this very process that initially convinced us to reach out to Sony!) But There Came an Echo goes a little farther with something we call “command aliasing”. Don’t like the default commands, like “fire” or “shields up”? You can enter in your own custom word or phrase for every existing unit and command in the game. Want to talk to your units using nothing but quotes from Zoolander? Done. And, for those who still aren’t sold (or just have a sleeping roommate), you can fully control the game with your standard DualShock 4, no problem.

There Came an Echo also has a heavy narrative focus. Your soldiers aren’t generic military types, but individuals, unaccustomed to combat, thrown into an unimaginable conflict over a technology very certain to change the world. You not only talk to them, but they to you; character development and motivation is a major focus for us. And, to that end, we’ve assembled a cast fit for Hollywood: Wil Wheaton and Ashly Burch headline, with industry veterans Yuri Lowenthal, Laura Bailey, Karen Strassman, Rachel Robinson, and Cindy Robinson rounding out the fantastic ensemble. We couldn’t be more excited to work with this incredible pool of talent. Well, maybe we could be, if they promise to bring Oreos to the recording sessions later this year. (Wil, I know you’re reading this. Seriously. Bring them.)

Our release date is still a little up in the air, but rest assured we’re working closely with Sony to finish our game and get it up onto the PlayStation Store as soon as possible. We hope you’re looking forward to the game!

You’ve all probably got a bunch of questions, comments, and hilarious jokes, so post ‘em in the comments below! We’ll be around, responding and judging your comedic abilities.

BioWare has explained introducing new party members post-launch would require on-disc DLC, which is why it's been decided against.

Admit it, this is the Star Wars Pinball moment we have all been waiting for – R2-D2 and C-3PO are getting their own pinball table! As if it couldn’t get any better, we are happy to announce Star Wars Pinball: Heroes Within will be available for download starting April 29, 2014, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PS Vita!

Climb aboard the Jawa’s massive Sandcrawler and check out the trailer showing off our Droid duo’s pinball debut.

R2-D2 and C-3PO face a myriad of pitfalls including conveyor belts, welding torches, pressing machinery, robotic arms and lava pits! Your finest pinball skills are required to help our friends escape the Sandcrawler! Beware of Nebit, as he tries to thwart the escape and keep our Droids captive!

May the Force be with you.

VidZone has a new batch of music videos and playlists for April! First up is the latest Artist Of The Week who is pulling a “Beyoncé” by releasing a video of EACH track from their highly-anticipated forthcoming album. Look out for more in the coming weeks but if that doesn’t excite you enough, there are also pop stars in an infamous lady-filled mansion, a huge dance track from one of the year’s hottest movies and a full-length epic from a well-known Haus…

Read on for more info and to find out what else is new…

Artist Of The Week: 50 Cent

50 Cent is back with his new album Animal Ambition dropping in June and VidZone is celebrating the news by dubbing the rapper Artist Of The Week! It will be Curtis James Jackson III’s first release under a new arrangement that saw his G-Unit record label go independent in February. Watch the brand new videos for ‘Pilot’, ‘Hold On’ and ‘Don’t Worry ‘Bout It’ now, and more in his Featured Playlist.

Pop Zone

The Haus of Gaga presents Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP film for ‘G.U.Y.’ Check out the epic 12 minute music video now as well as all of the Pop superstar’s previous hits including, ‘Applause’, ‘Telephone’ feat. Beyoncé and ‘The Edge Of Glory’ in her Artist Focus Playlist.

• Lady Gaga – Artist Focus
• Shakira – Artist Spotlight
• 5 Seconds Of Summer – One To Watch
• Jennifer Lopez – Center Stage

Party Zone

It doesn’t come as a surprise that Mr Worldwide has become partners with Playboy Enterprises Inc. which has now turned 60 years old. Pitbull’s first venture with the iconic brand sees him team up with hot new girl group G.R.L. on the single ‘Wild Wild Love’ and VidZone is recommending that you check out the video which was filmed at the Playboy Mansion (where else!?). Watch it now as well as all of the star’s previous hits including the global chart-topper ‘Timber’ feat. Ke$ha.

• Pitbull – VidZone Recommends
• Artist Spotlight – Flo Rida
• Greatest Hits – Michael Jackson
• House Party TV

Dance Zone

New Russian-German dance sensation Zedd has released a video for the track ‘Find You’ with vocals from singer-songwriter Matthew Koma and Swedish star Miriam Bryant. Check out the clip now, which features footage from the sci-fi movie, Divergent, as well as the singles ‘Stay The Night’ feat. Paramore’s Hayley Williams and ‘Clarity’ feat. Foxes in his Artist Focus Playlist.

• Zedd – Artist Focus
• Avicii – VidZone Recommends
• DJ Snake & Lil Jon – Must See Video
• Krewella – Center Stage

Latest Videos

Check out our great selection this week…

• Lady Gaga – G.U.Y. (Pop)
• Tinashe – 2 On (RnB)
• Pitbull – Wild Wild Love (Party)
• 50 Cent – Pilot (Hip-Hop)
• Banks – Brain (Chill)
• Five Finger Death Punch – House of the Rising Sun (Metal)
• Zedd – Find You (Dance)

VidZone brings you a world of music videos tailored completely for you. Download it now for free from PlayStation Store for both PS3 and PS4. As always, keep in touch on Twitter and Facebook. We read everything and love your comments, so don’t be shy! Got any requests for VidZone? Let us know!

When you're an incredibly famous chat show host with physics-defying hair, you can do things like rent out a NFL stadium just to play Need for Speed: Rivals on the ninth largest screen in the world. Conan O'Brien's latest "Clueless Gamer" is one of the most remarkable yet, if only for the surreal sight of him playing Flower on a 180 x 72 feet jumbotron while a group of kids spell out his name on the pitch below. And they say games aren't art.

PS: Before you start looking for Super Street Fighter 2 HD Turbo Remix on the PS4 Store, it's not there, and it looks like Conan switched to a DualShock 3 during that bit. Sorry to dash those hopes. [Image: Team Coco]

Naughty Dog has revealed development on The Last of Us: Remastered for PS4 began straight after production on the original game wrapped.

Are you stoked for Batman's 75th anniversary? Check out our updated list of the Caped Crusader's absolute must-reads.

Gearbox's Randy Pitchford explains that "It's not free to build a game for next-gen."