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PS4 has been met with an amazing amount of enthusiasm and excitement from both gamers and developers alike since its launch back in November, and the 6 million gamers who have already bought PS4 have really embraced this next-generation gaming experience. We’ve got more than 100 games scheduled to launch on PS4 this year alone, including Watch_Dogs, The Elder Scrolls Online, Destiny, and The Order: 1886.

That amazing lineup is made possible by the development community, who have been hard at work with our hardware, already pushing it to do things that we never expected. Recently we reached a significant milestone with more than 1,000 developers licensed globally to self-publish on our platforms, 200 of those licensed in North America since PS4 was unveiled in February 2013.

A year ago at the Game Developers Conference, we kicked our support for independent developers into high-gear. Since then, we continued to partner with some of the world’s best and brightest independent developers committed to bringing their titles — some of the most creative and innovative games I’ve seen — to PlayStation platforms. We’ve already seen some great content hit PS4 — from crafting waffles in Don’t Starve to scaring the pants off of people with Outlast. We’re looking forward to some of this year’s self-published titles like Octodad, Transistor, N++, GALAK-Z, Rogue Legacy, Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, and The Witness, and you know we’re all already playing a metric arrow ton of TowerFall Ascension.

This year’s GDC was awesome, as usual. We had a blast meeting with developers, both partners we’ve worked with time and time again, as well as new up-and-coming talent. We also continued collecting feedback from developers on what they’ve discovered while spending time with our platforms, and we introduced some new tools that will help ease the process of bringing their games to PlayStation gamers… not to mention how we peeked into the future of PlayStation.

To developers, to fans: THANK YOU for helping us make history with PlayStation 4.

Struggling with success is always a hard sell for empathy. It’s all too easy to dismiss such expressions with an easy, “Oh, you poor rich thing.” But it is, of course, far more complicated than that.

Davey Wreden, co-creator of The Stanley Parable, has already written in detail about how phenomenon of his game has personally affected him, in an eloquent blog post last month. Since the release of The Stanley Parable, and its remarkable success, the lives of both of its creators have been turned upside down. At 25 and 20 years old, Davey Wreden and William Pugh, haven’t had an easy time. I spoke with them about their last six months, how the reaction to the game has affected them and their partnership, and how they’re dealing with it all. And Pugh’s desire to create a rivalry with Steve Gaynor.

… [visit site to read more]

Gawker Bank Accidentally Deposits $31k in Teen's Account, Hero Teen Spends It | io9 Are You An Endurance Athlete? Prepare To Have Your Day Ruined. | Jalopnik Mumbai Residents Want The Honking To Stop | Jezebel New Bride Who Pushed Husband Off Cliff Gets 30 Years In PrisonRead more...

Worms studio Team17 published the first screens and details on new IP Flockers today, which the UK dev described as a "twisted blend of Lemmings' inspired gameplay and Tim Burton style macabre, all topped off with a dose of that classic Worms humor."

"Held for years within the evil thrall of the Worms, the sheep are finally making a dash for freedom," reads a YouTube description. "Escaping the tyrannical Worms, the flock must dodge their way past all manner of lethal machinery and traps as they negotiate their path through the confinement of the Worms weapons factory and onwards to pastures green."

There's a definite steampunk vibe to the screens and plenty of sheep - including some in purple beanies for some reason - to save from gruesome, bloody demises. We'll all get to meet the Flockers when the game hits Steam Early Access in Q2 2014. [Image: Team17]

With nine days left on the clock, Ashen Rift hasn’t quite gathered half of its target funds. Seeking C$45,000, the first-person shooter/survival horror hybrid has raised just under C$20,000 at the time of writing. When I check back at the end of the day, I expect that number to have risen significantly. The game was already on my radar, simply because it reminds me of STALKER and contains a friendly canine companion, but the latest video shows destructible terrain, collapsing rock formations and sneaky traps. It may have a daft name that keeps slipping out of my memory, but Ashen Rift looks like it may deliver the sort of emergent happenings that I crave.

… [visit site to read more]

Here's one well-thought-out Diablo III fan piece by DevaintART artist 6kart, with Deckard Kain, Leah and Diablo himself in the background. After Diablo III's storyline, I don't think it was possible to care about Leah, but this changes things up.Read more...

DeviantART illustrator Tohad just can't stop. He has to go through the 80s and the 90s (and our childhood), brutally altering every single character, whether it's from a cartoon, a video game or a comic book.Read more...

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Batman! Yes, that is the sound of Batman: Arkham City coming to PlayStation Plus in April for PlayStation 3 owners. Arkham City garnered praise from gamers and critics alike, as evidenced by its cumulative 96/100 score on Metacritic. With the recent announcement of Batman Arkham Knight, this is a great way to catch up on Batman’s adventures.

PlayStation 4 owners can join up with friends and take down an evil corporation in a new 2D action game, Mercenary Kings. As you explore the island CLAW (that’s the evil corporation) has taken over, you’ll discover weapon parts that you can take back to your base and use to fashion together some new spiffy gear.

There are two other PS3 games this month: Stealth Inc. A Clone In the Dark and Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse. Stealth Inc. is, as you can probably guess, a game where you should stick to the shadows. The only way to make it out of the lab alive is via some sneaky platforming, so proceed with caution. Castle of Illusion is a proper remake of the Sega Genesis version, not just an HD upgrade. There are new levels to navigate but the goal is the same — save your #1 mouse (that’s Minnie) from the evil witch.

While Vita owners can also enjoy Stealth Inc. (the benefits of Cross-Buy!) this month, they’ll also get Velocity Ultra, an arcade-y space shooter where you’ll teleport around and save other ships, and Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate HD, a classic tower-defense style game where you’ll need to save baby Tiki-people.

April PlayStation Plus Preview

Mercenary Kings (PS4)

Free for PS Plus members

In this frantic 2D action game, you are part of the Mercenary Kings, the most skilled team of warriors-for-hire on Earth, but when your comrades have fallen and the fearsome forces of CLAW have seized an island-wide top secret Laboratory Base, you must do what it takes to stop them. But you’re not going in unprepared! Your back-up is made of a crew of rogue geniuses and experts of their field! Able to craft & customize guns’n'blades or upgrading body armor, you’ve never been this ready to join the fight.

Batman: Arkham City (PS3)

Free for PS Plus members

No escape from Arkham City…the sprawling super-prison in the heart of Gotham City, home to its most violent thugs and infamous super villains. With the lives of the innocent at stake, only one man can save them and bring justice to the streets of Gotham City…The Batman.

IGN: “Batman: Arkham City is a brilliant game”

Stealth Inc. A Clone in the Dark (PS3)

Free for PS Plus members

Stealth Inc is a fast-paced stealth platformer featuring brutal hazards, ruthless enemies, fiendish puzzles and red pixels galore. Jump, sneak, and be chunked through 80 levels. Will you make it out alive? Armed with only your wits and a pair of top of the range Stealthing Goggles, it’s your job to sneak your way through a deadly facility that’s determined to extinguish your fragile little life. With no weapons and no armour, being seen means instant death.

Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (PS3)

Free for PS Plus members

Mickey Mouse returns to star in Castle of Illusion, a fantastical re-imagining of the Sega Genesis classic. With all-new HD graphics and gameplay, Castle of Illusion brings Mickey and his world to life in this magical Disney adventure! When the evil witch Mizrabel kidnaps Minnie, it’s up to Mickey to brave the dangers of the Castle of Illusion to rescue Minnie. Gather your courage and traverse enchanted forests, take on hordes of rebellious toys and navigate mazes of living books. Play as Mickey and save Minnie from Mizrabel’s evil clutches!

Velocity Ultra (PS Vita)

Free for PS Plus members

Featuring a new anime-influenced art style, touch screen to teleport, bombs on right stick, explosive visual effects, a Platinum trophy and PlayStation Trophy Leaderboards, Velocity Ultra improves on the 2012 Game Of The Year and PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards release in every area (except music ‘cos that rocked the first time around).

Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate HD (PS Vita)

Free for PS Plus members

Tikiman the Forest Defender is in trouble. Hordes of monsters are sweeping through his realm, hoping to chow down on his offspring – and it’s up to you to defend them. By placing weapon towers at strategic points around the landscape, you can destroy the invaders and save the little ones. Collect treasure along the way to build up your arsenal and pay for new towers – countless waves of monsters are out to get the babies, so you need to be prepared to battle!

What are your thoughts on the current Instant Game Collection?

If you’ve got feedback on PlayStation Plus make sure you take the poll above as well as leave a comment below. To chat about all things PlayStation, including this update, you can head over to the PlayStation Community Forums. You’ll also find other topics you can contribute your thoughts to, or you can start your own discussion.

Anyone eager to spend a modest portion of their Friday shaking their head and tutting while a tactical halfwit sends virtual Soviet soldiers to their deaths, is in luck. A lend-lease version of the close-to-release Combat Mission: Red Thunder‎ has just been craned onto my bustling quay by my bustling stevedore, Steve Dore. Give me a second to finish my molotov cocktail, quietflowsthedon my ushanka, and retrieve my Bumper Book of Annoying Russian Clichés, and we can get started. … [visit site to read more]

April is looking like a great month for PlayStation Plus, with a PS4 game, three Vita games, and two PS3 games available for free, including Batman: Arkham City.

I probably shouldn't have watched that TMNT trailer before recording this feature.

Jeff's going to need more than a red box to fend off SEVEN other players all vying for a single glowy ball.

Marvel rewards fans of the game and teases new features and characters.

Wear contacts? Don't want to stick your fingers in your eyes? A Japanese company has created a contraption called "Meruru." In short, you are looking at contact lens tweezers. Read more...

FTL: Faster Than Light is coming to iPad on April 3, and it includes the Advanced Edition expansion headed to PC for free on the same day. The space-based strategy game is priced $10 on all platforms, and is compatible with iPads version 2 and up - sorry, iPhones.

The Advanced Edition is plenty packed for a freebie, adding new ship layouts, weapons, drones, augmentations, and systems to explore and lose your beloved crew in. On top of that it has new events penned by FTL writer Tom Jubert and Obsidian's Chris Avellone.

"FTL works really well with the general way you play on iPad," co-founder of dev Subset Games Justin Ma told us at GDC, "just because you can pause it at any moment, come back later, and all the little events are bite-sized moments." [Image: Subset Games]

FTL: Faster Than Light is coming to iPad on April 3, and it includes the Advanced Edition expansion headed to PC for free on the same day. The space-based strategy game is priced $10 on all platforms, and is compatible with iPads version 2 and up - sorry, iPhones.

The Advanced Edition is plenty packed for a freebie, adding new ship layouts, weapons, drones, augmentations, and systems to explore and lose your beloved crew in. On top of that it has new events penned by FTL writer Tom Jubert and Obsidian's Chris Avellone.

"FTL works really well with the general way you play on iPad," co-founder of dev Subset Games Justin Ma told us at GDC, "just because you can pause it at any moment, come back later, and all the little events are bite-sized moments." [Image: Subset Games]

When I was growing up, everyone knew that boys get to be the knights and girls the princesses. But Witch Craft Works has a lot of fun turning this idea on its head. Read more...

Jen and Nick didn't meet online, but they've developed their relationship through playing World of Warcraft together. So as their relationship grew, they finally decided to build their entire wedding —a real one, not one in Stormwind's Cathedral Square—around WoW.Read more...

It's an American invasion on this week's show, plus the Arkham Knight also drops in for a chat.

After a bit of a bumpy development, including turning to Kickstarter a year after its announcement and a lengthy delay, Shadowrun Online is slipping on its trenchcoat and mirrorshades to greet the world. Street samurai and shaman throughout The Matrix will get to throw down in turn-based tactical combat come Monday, March 31, when the game will launch via Steam Early Access.

While the full game will have a free-to-play option, Early Access is only for the full paid version which includes all microtransaction doodads for $30 (one imagines it’ll be £20-ish). It’ll be a combat-focused hunk of the game with several co-op missions and a little PvP, but missing a fair few parts. … [visit site to read more]

The Battlefield 4 'Naval Strike' DLC is sailing towards Premium members on Xbox One after DICE delayed it earlier in the week to address animation issues. However, PC players are still waiting on the update, and DICE is pinning its arrival for "early April."

"We have delayed the PC version of Naval Strike because we are concerned that the combination of the pack and planned PC updates would increase performance issues on mid-range to high-end PCs," reads an update on the Battlefield Blog. "We are working hard to resolve that issue now."

When it finally docks on PC, Naval Strike will bring four new maps, ten assignments, five weapons, two gadgets, and a hovercraft vehicle to Battlefield 4. The DLC also features a new Carrier Assault mode in which opposing sides fight to sink each other's aircraft carrier while keeping their own one afloat. [Image: EA]

Origin is following the leads of PlayStation Plus and Games with Gold by offering selected free games across limited times - the difference is you don't pay to be an Origin member. It's unclear how often Origin's new On the House program is going to trot out its freebies, but for starters members can get dismembering with third-person survival horror Dead Space, which is free to download now.

According to EA's FAQ, "once you've claimed your game, it's yours to keep." You've also got plenty of time to claim Dead Space, because it's staying free to download until May 8. [Image: EA]

I’ve been to Chicago before. It was for Lollapalooza a few years ago, so I remember heat, sweat, and gibbering herds of sticky humans jammed together like uncooked hotdogs – and pretty much nothing else. I guess, then, I’ll just have to take Ubisoft’s word for it when it comes to Watch_Dogs‘ rendition of Chicago, which is apparently about as true to life as you can get while presupposing that a) it is the near future and b) the entire city can be controlled by a single magic cell phone. Apparently all the citizen AI and whatnot is quite sophisticated, though. Hack into the jungle of 1s and 0s below to for a video.

… [visit site to read more]

The new Avengers movie hasn't started shooting in Seoul yet, but Joss Whedon is already telling the people he's sorry for the mess and inconvenience the movie will bring. Read more...

The Inner World Soundtrack, all new content for The Inner World is Now Available on Steam!

Multiple sources have confirmed that Sony is sending out a fresh wave of PlayStation Now beta invites, so check your emails!

Should society be toppled by some terrible plague, I’d probably neck a few pints of gin then dance to pop music across the rooftops until I inevitably tumbled down. But you, you may have other plans. You know where you’d go in your neighbourhood, where you’d raid for supplies, and where you’d hide. The astonishingly ambitious online action-RPG ReRoll hopes to tap into that knowledge by scanning the real world with drones to make its own. And has now actually started.

The first city to submit to cyberfication is Canada’s fair Montreal, which is only fitting as that’s where Pixyul co-founders Julien Cuny and Louis-Pierre Pharand worked on Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry games at Ubisoft. Come, see Ville-Marie beset with a mutant plague in a new-ish trailer. … [visit site to read more]

According to reports out of Japan, the president of social gaming giant Gree, Yoshikazu Tanaka, is being sued for allegedly making a young woman get an abortion. Read more...

The song. The visuals. Oh goodness, the blood. This is awesome.Read more...

Exploded ships and frustration galore, now on the go—but only on iPad. If you've only got an iPhone, you're out of luck. You'll have to stick with the PC version. Read more...