News::Sony is hosting a PlayStation VR event next month

Despite what GameStop has in mind, Sony might actually still make its promised "first half of 2016" release date for PlayStation VR. That the company has sent out invites for a special media event just ahead of the annual Game Developers Conference only adds to that suspicion. When you consider PlayStation has used the trade show for the setup's debut in 2014, announcing a release window and upgraded innards last year, it only seems more likely we'll get a hard release date and price on the helmet.

via Engadget RSS Feedhttp://ift.tt/1S0k6Xg

News::Hardcore cult hit 'Risk of Rain' lands on PS4, Vita this year

Risk of Rain is a gloriously, ridiculously challenging action game that debuted on Steam in November 2013 -- and it's headed to PlayStation 4 and Vita in early 2016. This isn't your standard pixelated, sidescrolling independent platformer; Risk of Rain ramps up in complexity as you play, with difficulty levels ranging from "Very Easy" to "Impossible" to "HAHAHAHA." Players have just one life, meaning if (when) you die, you have to fight through hordes of enemies and collect your favorite weapons all over again. And again. And again. And probably again.

Source: PlayStation Blog

via Engadget RSS Feedhttp://ift.tt/1PXmV8T

News::'Star Wars Battlefront' adds a retro film grain option

Are you the sort of Star Wars fan who seeks out "de-specialized" versions of the original movies, and knows that Han shot first? If so, you're going to have a field day with the latest update for Star Wars Battlefront. The release adds a film grain option that lets you dial in as much of that classic look as you like, giving the game more of the late '70s/early '80s vibe from the early flicks. That's not the only upgrade, either.

Via: Polygon

Source: EA

via Engadget RSS Feedhttp://ift.tt/1QBHbQK

News::Activision officially owns the maker of 'Candy Crush Saga'

It's official: Activision Blizzard is committed to mobile gaming in a big way. The company has closed its $5.9 billion acquisition of King, making it the owner of Candy Crush Saga and giving it 310 million extra users. King will continue to operate independently, but make no mistake -- this is about filling a gap at a game publisher whose moneymakers are mostly limited to consoles and PCs. Between this, the purchase of MLG and the creation of a video studio, it's evident that Activision wants to have all the bases covered.

Via: The Verge

Source: Activision Blizzard

via Engadget RSS Feedhttp://ift.tt/1OsMg6s

News::IBM's supercomputer will power an online, anime VR game

It's a bit odd that no one's thought to fuse the virtual-reality, role-playing game centric anime Sword Art Online into a proper VR experience before now, but that's the future we live in. No worries though, because IBM is using (Japanese) its Watson Cognitive Computing tech and SoftLayer cloud computing for Sword Art Online: The Beginning. It's a massively multiplayer VR game, of course, and perhaps other details will clear themselves up come a Tokyo-based event running from March 18th to the 20th. There, a 3D scanner will put folks' likenesses into the game for use as an avatar, Siliconera reports.

Via: SlashGear

Source: VR MMO Project (Japanese)

via Engadget RSS Feedhttp://ift.tt/1oEvfS4