‘Gran Turismo Sport’ revs up for November launch on PlayStation 4

By Danny Cowan May 19, 2016

Gran Turismo Sport Gameplay Trailer Captured on PS4

At a Sony-sponsored event in London on Thursday, Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi announced that a new entry in the long-running Gran Turismo racing sim series will launch worldwide for the PlayStation 4 later this year.

Gran Turismo Sport marks the franchise’s first-ever appearance on the PlayStation 4. The finished product will be available digitally via the PlayStation Network and at retailers on November 15.

Like previous entries in the series, Gran Turismo Sport is designed with realism and authenticity at the forefront, with Sony announcing that the upcoming sequel will be “the world’s first racing experience to be built from the ground up to bring global, online competitions sanctioned by the highest governing body of international motorsports, the Federation International Automobile.”

After picking a country or vehicle manufacturer to represent throughout the game’s included campaign mode, players will compete across several featured race classes, including GT3, Prototype, and Rally modes. More racing options will be revealed as the game approaches its November launch.

Presenters at Sony’s London event additionally revealed that Gran Turismo Sport will feature 137 “super premium” cars with realistically modeled interiors and exteriors. Polyphony Digital notes that all featured vehicles have been “remodeled from scratch,” scrapping existing designs from 2013’s Gran Turismo 6.

Early reports state that Gran Turismo Sport will include 27 courses across 19 locations at launch. More courses and vehicles will likely roll out in the months after launch as downloadable content.

Players who pre-order Gran Turismo Sport will receive three bonus in-game cars, and additional incentives are available from retailers like GameStop, Amazon, and Best Buy. Also up for pre-order this week is the Gran Turismo Sport Limited Edition, which offers digital bonuses including eight additional vehicles, extra in-game cash, and bonus customization items like avatars, decals, and an exclusive racing helmet.

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Gaming

Two Sam & Max games are getting a PlayStation remaster

sam max remasters coming to playstation on september 29 remastered

Skunkape Games, a small indie team comprised of some members of Telltale Games, has announced that the remastered versions of Sam & Max Save the World and Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space will be released on the PlayStation on September 29.

Both games were originally released in 2006 and 2007 as Sam & Max Season One and Sam & Max Season Two, respectively. The project was developed by Telltale Games, who adapted them from the comic book series created by Steve Purcell. When Telltale shut down in 2018, Skunkape bought the rights to the Sam & Max series and remastered them for Nintendo Switch, PC (via Steam), and Xbox One in 2020 and 2021 with Purcell's blessing. Today, it released a trailer confirming the PS4 port of the remasters of the adventures of the crime-fighting dog and rabbit duo.

Gaming

The Last of Us Part I should launch on PlayStation Plus Premium

Ellie looking concerned.

The Last of Us Part I is one of the most notable PlayStation 5 games to launch this fall. It’s also one of the year’s most controversial titles.
Despite the acclaim associated with The Last of Us series, there is heated debate surrounding the remake’s $70 price tag, which is more than the original release and The Last of Us Remastered cost at release -- even though it's lacking the multiplayer mode that came with both. This situation turned what should be a certified slam dunk for Sony into a divisive release, and Sony could fix it with one key change: making The Last of Us Part I a day-one title on PlayStation Plus Extra or Premium.
This isn’t because The Last of Us Part I isn’t worth $70. In fact, its improved visuals and the vast amount of new accessibility features clearly warrant the price tag in the eyes of some. That said, even defenders of the heightened price can recognize the controversy arising from charging more than ever for a remake of a twice-released game. The Last of Us Part I is in a rough situation, and being a PS Plus game would ease some of those concerns.
Why being on PS Plus would work
As The Last of Us is one of Sony's most popular modern franchises and has a TV show on the way, it's understandable why Sony and developer Naughty Dog eagerly want a modernized version of The Last of Us Part I on store shelves at full price. Still, those who've already bought the game twice and aren't impressed by the visual and accessibility overhaul don't seem as compelled to pick up the game for the third time. Sony would remove this significant roadblock plaguing The Last of Us Part I by putting the game on a subscription service.
The Last of Us Part I Rebuilt for PS5 - Features and Gameplay Trailer | PS5 Games
There are plenty of examples showing why this would be a wise idea. The Age of Empire series' Definitive Edition games showed how well remakes work on subscription services. Several years after their original release, many players are still actively engaged with the first three Age of Empire games. While interested players can still purchase the remakes individually, putting those games on Game Pass for PC on day one ensured that the community didn't have to pay full price for a game they were already playing daily. Instead, they could just get the remake through their subscription and continue.
The Last of Us Part I is in a similar situation, even with the multiplayer content removed. This demonstrates why a subscription service release could lessen some of the negative stigmas around the game. The successful Stray, which was included in PS Plus at launch, shows that day one PlayStation Plus games can still generate plenty of positive buzz. The game's subscription service availability ensured that the conversation stayed on the game's cute cats, not the fact that it was a $30 game that only lasted about five hours.
Sony has recognized the power PS Plus can have on embattled games before. Destruction All-Stars was originally a $70 PS5 launch title, but ultimately launched as a PlayStation Plus game that was free to subscribers. Although The Last of Us Part I seems like it’ll be a better game than Destruction All-Stars, a day one game makes even more sense on PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra now than it did on PS Plus in February 2021.

Despite all of those factors, Jim Ryan made it clear that he does not want AAA PlayStation Studios games on PlayStation Plus Premium or Extra on day one during an interview with Games Industry.
“We feel like we are in a good virtuous cycle with the studios where the investment delivers success, which enables yet more investment, which delivers yet more success,” Ryan said. “We like that cycle and we think our gamers like that cycle … We feel if we were to do that with the games that we make at PlayStation Studios, that virtuous cycle will be broken. The level of investment that we need to make in our studios would not be possible, and we think the knock-on effect on the quality of the games that we make would not be something that gamers want."
His argument makes sense from a business standpoint, but data from Microsoft shows that people play more games (and games they might not have played initially) when they are available on a subscription service. Even if it seems unfair to judge, many people weigh the amount of new, entertaining content a game offers to its price tag. Sony's can't truly say whether The Last of Us Part I is worth $70, but it can shift the discussion in its favor with an act of goodwill.
The Last of Us Part I will be released for PS5 on September 2, 2022.

Gaming

PlayStation Plus Premium is off to a rough start overseas

A person plays Crash Bandicoot using a PS5 DualSense controller.

As gamers debate whether Xbox Game Pass burnout is actually here, Sony is launching its own enhanced PlayStation Plus subscription service on PS4 and PS5. New higher PlayStation Plus tiers started rolling out in Asia on May 23 and will make their way to the rest of the world over the next month. Unfortunately, a couple of issues already seem to be plaguing PlayStation Plus Premium during its first days on the market.
From how much people have to pay for the service to how the retro games themselves play, customers are running into a slew of problems with Sony's service. While it's a rough start for PlayStation Plus Premium and its chances compared to the notable success of Xbox Game Pass, Sony's project isn't quite doomed.
A lacking game library
While this issue is subjective depending on how many games you've played and what you're looking for out of this subscription service, the launch library for PlayStation Plus Premium has been largely painted as underwhelming by fans. Even if it's a bit better than what a blog post earlier this month initially suggested, it mainly contains PS4 games a lot of hardcore PlayStation fans like myself have already paid for and played. Some questionable games like Balan Wonderworld and Mighty No. 9 also stand out even more thanks to the limited selection.
Introducing the all-new PlayStation Plus | PS5 & PS4 Games
The PS1, PSP, and PS2 game lineups are thin at launch, with major franchises like Sly Cooper and Metal Gear Solid completely missing. Trophy support isn't ubiquitous across all retro games, which is frustrating for trophy hunters. PS3 games are not natively emulated on the console; they stream from the cloud and don't include DLC originally released for them, according to VGC.
While this differs from person to person, the PlayStation Plus Premium lineup is starting off on shaky ground compared to Xbox Game Pass, which already gets flack for whether it has a good month or not.
Problems playing games
Unfortunately, there aren't just subjective problems with the library, as Sony actively seems to be releasing poor versions of classic PS1 games onto the service. According to VGC, the first-party PS1 games in the PlayStation Plus Deluxe tier -- the highest tier in Southeast Asia where the service has started rolling out -- are based on the PAL versions of each game, not the NTSC version. PAL PS1 games only run at a 50Hz refresh rate because they had to accommodate the dominant video format in places like Europe and Australia. Meanwhile, North American players experienced the NTSC versions of these PS1 games, which run at a 60Hz refresh rate.
If Sony uses the PAL versions of its PS1 games when the service expands to North America, then those retro games on the PlayStation Plus Premium tier will run slower than North American players experienced in the 1990s. We don't know for sure if the North American version of the service will use the PAL versions just yet, but it's still a worrying development as the PlayStation Classic also had this problem. Some technical issues in games like Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee are also being reported by VGC, raising further questions about the quality of the classic PS1 ports. Playing retro games seems to be a rougher experience on PlayStation than trying original Xbox and 360 games on Xbox Game Pass, even if it's nice that Sony finally acknowledged its back catalog of classics.

Upgrading memberships is messy
Players who bought lots of PlayStation Plus or PlayStation Now subscriptions at a discounted rate in hopes of converting them to higher-tiered subscriptions were met with disappointment on May 23. Sony reportedly requires players to pay the difference of their discount if they want to upgrade to the more expensive tiers. Couple this with the fact that you must upgrade for the rest of your current subscription, not just a few months or a year of Extra or Premium, and some players are having to pay much more than they expected to upgrade PlayStation Plus.
Yes, buying several years of PlayStation Plus or PS Now at a discounted rate in anticipation of the service for cheaper is gaming the system a bit. However, PlayStation's decision to surcharge the fans that are prepared to embrace PlayStation Plus Premium in this way doesn't feel like the best judgment call for a new service hoping to earn players' trust.
Is PlayStation Plus Premium doomed?
Despite these issues, PlayStation Plus Premium isn't doomed to fail.
Any new subscription service will have its fair share of problems, especially right out of the gate. Xbox Game Pass was not an overnight success; it had years to build up to become the popular (and sometimes controversial) subscription service it is today. The game library will improve over time as Sony makes more deals with companies for current-gen games and continues to port older PS1, PSP, and PS2 games to the service. They still have a chance to make sure it's the NTSC versions of the games available in North America, so we aren't playing slower versions of these classics. And once PlayStation Plus Premium's launch is months or years behind us, these discount surcharges won't matter to subscribers as much anymore.
Hopefully, Sony can learn from and correct these mistakes as PlayStation Plus Premium rolls out worldwide and subscribers utilize it for an extended period of time. If it does, PlayStation Plus Premium can be the Xbox Game Pass alternative that PlayStation users seem to want, rather than a rough first draft of something that Xbox is already doing pretty well.