The PlayStation Blog recap

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The PlayStation Blog recap
Fred Dutton SCEE Blog Manager

PlayStation.Blog Recap

Greetings! 2014 really started to grind into gear this week, with our good friends at Naughty Dog blowing away the new-year cobwebs with some exciting reveals around Left Behind, the new single player expansion for The Last of Us, due out on 14th February. Ashley Johnson, the talented actress who brings Ellie to life, stopped by PlayStation Blog on Monday to discuss where the DLC takes her character, and IGN debuted some brand new footage.
Elsewhere this week, we revealed two new free multiplayer maps coming soon to Killzone Shadow Fall, looked ahead to tantalising action RPG Toukiden, and had our first glimpse at a new OTT sports title coming soon to PS Vita, called Bodycheck.
See you back here next week for more on Left Behind and news on your PlayStation Plus titles for February.

Top five most-read posts of the week:

  1. The Last of Us DLC – Ashley Johnson on reprising Ellie in Left Behind
  2. PlayStation Store update: Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD hits PS3
  3. First free Killzone Shadow Fall multiplayer maps revealed
  4. Toukiden: The Age of Demons hits PS Vita next month – new screens
  5. Music Unlimited update: 3 months of music for £3

Top three most viewed videos on YouTube this week:
1. PlayStation 4 ‘This is for the players’ launch advert

2. Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD trailer

3. DRIVECLUB – ‘Time trial at night’ video

Top three most RTed @PlayStationEU Tweets this week:

 

 

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80 Comments

  • evilwitch83
    January 19, 2014 at 10:42 am PST

    Fred, this week has been another disappointing week. The worst part was seeing how brilliant the prices are in the US 14 for 14 sale compared to ours, and I bet that the sale on Wednesday will be disappointing(only 10% plus discounts)as well.
    Will I be happy with the February plus games (I’ll only be happy if our 3rd PS3 game is back), or is that just going to be yet another disappointment from SCEE this week? I’m guessing that I will be disappointed yet again.
    Oh well, at least you saved me some money from all of the games I was going to preorder in February and March, which I am now just going to buy when they drop in price instead because I no longer buy games on Sony consoles day 1.

  • Terarded
    January 19, 2014 at 10:55 am PST

    can you guys please try and announce the ps plus games as soon as possible? ive been holding off on the january sale because i want to see what games im getting for free and they are gone by the 22nd and there are still a bunch of games i want but i wont risk buying something only to get it for free later.
    p.s evilwitch83 stop bitchin’ the sale we have now is one of the best sales ive ever seen and the ps plus titles are constantly getting better with every release. show some gratitude.

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 9:39 am PST

      We’re just finalising a few details. Hopefully we’ll be able to get word out on Wednesday but that may slip a day or two.

  • Juhal_1234
    January 19, 2014 at 11:11 am PST

    i don’t really care about the 3rd ps plus game
    but i agree that for some games we should get better discounts
    tales of xillia and one piece pirate warriors 2 where over 30 pounds! not really a great deal considering tales of xillia is cheaper un the us store aaaaand i have to fix my blu ray drive for the ps3 :P
    anyway any chance we could get secret agent clank + Parappa the rapper + other playstation exclusives on ps store? i think secret agent clank is on US ps store, anyway wasn’t it published by sony? it’s been 6 years since it was released.
    one serious question though. Those that brought ps3/ps2/ps1 games on ps3 ps store, do we have to rebuy them for playstation now?
    hope i get replies for my question (especially the question about secret agent clank + Parappa the rapper and playstation now)

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 9:41 am PST

      We’ll confirm full details of how PlayStation Now will work a little closer to launch. Sorry I can’t be more precise today.
      As for Secret Agent Clank and Parappa – there are no plans at present, but your interest is certainly noted.

  • Alphaembryo
    January 19, 2014 at 11:38 am PST

    Here is a post to show my support to @evilwitch83.
    I’d also like to add something about singstar icon, but it feels like I’m beating a dead horse.

  • enemymaniac
    January 19, 2014 at 12:04 pm PST

    Tell us about Feb PS+ already. Looks like “I buy this with discount”, and 1/2 month later: “OMG! They give it for free!” This is no way to give presents.

  • Hexahedronaut
    January 19, 2014 at 12:18 pm PST

    Why are you so afraid of giving us a non copy/paste response to the real reason you removed the 3rd ps3 plus game whilst letting America keep theirs? Don’t turn this into the sing star crap again where you’ll forever ignore us.
    Here’s an idea… Lower the price of plus I mean why should I pay more for less? Come on guys stop being a bunch of spineless cowards.

  • ephtrackx
    January 19, 2014 at 12:29 pm PST

    US 14 for 14 sale is amazing. Was hoping to see that one in EU and was really disappointed… Hope to see something like that in near future. And where’s the PS+ announcement? Come on, guys! :)

  • bo_ya3ga_27
    January 19, 2014 at 12:49 pm PST

    I really hope you guys do something about the 14 for 14 discounts. THE PRICES ARE AMAZING! Come on you guys gotta do something. Farcry Blood Dragon for 4 bucks? and here its 20 bucks :( Also I really hope you guys give us Bioshock Infinite this month. Really looking forward to that game.

  • Sudmanche
    January 19, 2014 at 12:50 pm PST

    Where is the 14 for 14 sale in EU?
    Killzone for Vita is £30 in UK, in US just $9 (£6) for PS+ members. How can you justify this difference?

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 9:46 am PST

      SCEE and SCEA Stores are run by different local teams and always run separate promotions, so I’m afraid you won’t see these deals in EU. Keep an eye on Blog though – Killzone Mercenary was on sale here over Christmas.

  • vanlok66
    January 19, 2014 at 1:17 pm PST

    Our deals were waaay better than the 14 for 14 sales.
    I mean ni no kuni for 9 euro’s? Mass effect 3 for 7 euro’s? come on guys half of the games were on sale.
    But come on Fred, announce the new PS+ games! (or at least give us a date)

  • Lucreto
    January 19, 2014 at 1:25 pm PST

    @Sudmanche
    SCEE and SCEA are different companies. They both have to strike their own deals. It is easier to get deals in the US as there are 4 PSN stores so only 4 countries to deal with. SCEE have 32 stores and some countries have strict laws on how items are discounted.
    For example in the US lets say a T-shirt can be bought new and the store can charge $5.99 heavily discounted from $20. In Ireland the T-shirt has to be on sale 28 days at full price before it can be discounted.
    You would have more people complaining here if the UK got a 50% discount and the rest of EU only got 10%. It is all or nothing I am afraid.

  • Voodoo341
    January 19, 2014 at 2:06 pm PST

    @Lucreto
    Think you’ll find there’s only one US store, not four. Unless of course you’re counting Canada and Mexico as US. Which would be a bit of a surprise for any Canadian or Mexican reading.
    EU store prices are a joke! It’s that simple. I believe it’s the only online store that’s actually more expensive than retail. Always thought PS+ discounts were a joke. Glad to see plenty others now agreeing.

  • BladeX_91
    January 19, 2014 at 2:40 pm PST

    I hope you aren’t waiting the end of “January Sales” before announcing IGC of February…

  • ALBAIXI
    January 19, 2014 at 3:13 pm PST

    I have hated how over the last few months sales for add-ons/dlc have been on offer the month before the game comes to playstation plus without any kind of warning or coming soon notice. It surely makes sense to release these offers with or after playstation plus has the corresponding titles.
    I would still like to see a roll back month giving the chance to pick up titles people may have missed.
    I would also like to see more themes and avatars return, a small thing but still welcome.
    Regular maintenance on the sales and offers updates such as taking away offers that don’t exist anymore would also be appreciated. You get the impression Xbox lives is a custom service ran by a well oiled team and ps+ is ran by a poor guy sitting in his bedroom.
    These are all minor niggles and I still love the ps+ service. Can’t wait to see BioShock Infinite on EU ps+.

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 9:59 am PST

      We do our best to offer DLC sales on PS Plus titles after they’ve entered the IGC. However, any discounts are at the discretion of the relevant publisher, and it’s not always possible to offer these. Please know that the Plus team try their best!
      For practical business reasons, I’m afraid a roll-back month is not something we’ll likely be able to offer any time soon.

  • Sudmanche
    January 19, 2014 at 3:26 pm PST

    @Lucreto
    I understand what you are saying, and I want equal prices across all of EU and US.
    There is no way I am going to pay £30 for a game knowing it is being sold for £6 in the US, is anyone going to pay that now?

  • darkdudes_2
    January 19, 2014 at 4:01 pm PST

    I missed the christmas sales, is there a chance for Killzone: Mercenary in a sale, again.

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 10:00 am PST

      Alas, not in the immediate future, but it may appear later in the year. Keep your eyes on physical retailers – they may well run their own discounts on the game.

  • kurichan78
    January 19, 2014 at 4:56 pm PST

    I can’t believe the venom in some of the above comments, no wonder you guys don’t respond.
    Looking forward to the Plus announcement, it is still amazing value for money, and the sales have been getting better and better.

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 10:01 am PST

      I can’t always make it to a computer on a Sunday, but I’ll always replay where I can on the Monday morning. And great to hear you’re enjoying Plus!

  • medenko1975
    January 19, 2014 at 5:08 pm PST

    That’s why i also made US account…..

  • jimbob12345678
    January 19, 2014 at 6:11 pm PST

    Hey fred any update on my post from last weeks recap?
    Also totally unrelated and random question. The PS1 game Magic Carpet doesn’t appear to be compatable with the Vita, however the US version is (I really hate to have to use the US comparison here, the things that a lot of other blog users complain about with regard to the US service don’t actually bother me at all!) I’m just curious is there’s any chance that it’s a bug that the EU version doesn’t work on vita, or if something can be done so that it will work. It’s a classic ;) (maybe it does work, but just can’t be downloaded through the store?)
    Thanks in advance :)

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 10:05 am PST

      Your Magic Carpet question is an obscure one! That might take a little bit of digging – I’ll see what I can find out.
      As for the issue you raised last week – yes, that was passed on to the relevant team and I believe it is progressing. I’ll chase it now – sorry to keep you waiting.

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 10:15 am PST

      Okay, you should have your Plus code no later than Wednesday. Thanks for your patience.

  • fer33pt
    January 19, 2014 at 7:09 pm PST

    Please do not let the rumor is true February igc not want more FPS

  • Sir_Magnum
    January 19, 2014 at 7:11 pm PST

    Is it safe to buy Ni No Kuni or is it going to be on Plus in the near future?

  • vanlok66
    January 19, 2014 at 10:40 pm PST

    @ Sir_Magnum
    wouldn’t take the risk, it’s 9 euro’s (about 7 pounds?) and believe me it’s worth every penny.
    What about the frikkin IGC collection, come on guys, 5 days left.

  • dogwalker4000
    January 20, 2014 at 1:38 am PST

    I’d like to echo what kurichan78 said, the way some of you come across isn’t really gonna implore the blog guys to answer your questions.
    Fred, just to let you the Lego Marvel DLC problem I mentioned last week is still not fixed. Is there an ETA on when it will be or is it a case of just waiting to see?

  • Lucreto
    January 20, 2014 at 1:46 am PST

    @Voodoo
    The price problem are on Xbox and Wii U as well. It was cheaper to download the new 3DS Zelda from game than from Nintendo direct. It looks like retailer have a bigger say in pricing in the Europe than the US.

  • animtor_brent
    January 20, 2014 at 9:03 am PST

    Looking forward to the updates on TLOF DLC as well as the Plus games for Feb.
    I agree with @kurichan78, still the best value for money and I know friends of mine who buy retail games that are so peeved at me cause I pay like R500 for a year and they pay R600 per game.
    Sad that online communities have been changed to a community of hate. Im going to get bashed for saying this but come on people, why are you registered for this type of community if all you do is hate. If you bring up a dislike or something its cool but to bash these guys about the Sales and the Plus games sets and stuff…Not Cool.
    Ps: Soul Sacrifice and DMC…. What a good way to start 2014!

  • DragonxTortoise
    January 20, 2014 at 9:30 am PST

    PS4 store is so bare. I know it’s new and all but cant you at least port some ps3 games over or something? :(

  • WizzNL
    January 20, 2014 at 11:00 am PST

    @Fred: I think most of us already know that the stores are run by different teams, the question is why SCEA’s team is able to deliver better sales everytime. You can compare your 12 deals and their 14 deals and will notice the difference ( up to 60% ). Being different teams is no valid reason for such difference.
    Besides that, why do we suddenly have to wait over 5 weeks to get our Plus announcement, while the content always gets replaced in 4 weeks? We still are missing our 3rd PS3 game, so it seems the EU has to be the region that needs to cough up the extra costs for a better PSN while the US just keeps their Pluscontent unchanged. And we are still waiting on the yearly Vita titles to be replaced at the end of 2013, like you posted several times on this Blog. Oww and im looking forward to be able to use Playstation Now this Summer, as announced in the Blogpost earlier this month ( the post didnt mention it would only release in the US this Summer and was aimed at all of the EU ).

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 11:36 am PST

      I’m afraid I can’t go in detail into the business realities of Store pricing. SCEE encompasses a huge number of territories all boasting varying rules and regulations, different economies, languages and exchange rates. In short, it’s an extremely complex region. The Store team work hard to offer the best value possible and will continue to do so – hopefully as the year goes on you’ll find some deals that tempt your wallet. And if you don’t, please feel free to keep telling us about it! While I can’t reply to every complaint about game X being priced differently in region Y – we are absolutely listening.
      Re. delay in announcing the Plus games for February, we still have a few ‘i’s to dot and ‘t’s to cross. There should be no delay in you receiving the games, but we’re just waiting until everything is 100% ready before we announce. Not long now.
      As for PlayStation Now – our blog post stated that we aren’t able to confirm EU launch plans at present (http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2014/01/07/playstation-now-game-streaming-service-unveiled-at-ces/). We’ll let you know more as soon as possible.

  • dogwalker4000
    January 20, 2014 at 11:06 am PST

    @Jawad Yeah it is, I dunno if there is any other DLC because I thought I saw someone over on the forum say they couldn’t get a different pack either. I may be completely wrong about that though so don’t quote me on that ;)

  • shavrath
    January 20, 2014 at 11:09 am PST

    Quick question Fred – as I am pretty new as a PS3/Vita owner, I am not really sure how it works. If a certain game was available in PS+ as a PS3 game ONLY, is there a chance that it may appear once again, but for Vita? Speaking about Most Wanted for example.

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 11:38 am PST

      Generally speaking, if a game has been on PS Plus before, it won’t appear a second time. There may be some grey area around games launched on different platforms with different content and without Cross Buy enabled. As for Most Wanted, we’ve no plans at present to bring that to IGC but, as ever, there’s always a chance it could appear in the service at some point.

  • Tzelmavet
    January 20, 2014 at 11:10 am PST

    Personally I like the PS+ service.
    But then again, I have all 3 systems it’s aimed at so I get 6 free games each month. Can’t really complain about that.
    But I can see why people with only one system would like to see more games for that particular one.
    And there really shouldn’t be a huge difference in content and prices between American and European PS-stores, in my opinion.
    Cheers!

  • dogwalker4000
    January 20, 2014 at 11:16 am PST

    @WizzNL
    The blog did do a post stating that PlayStation Now will not be releasing in this region when it releases for the US.
    http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2014/01/07/playstation-now-game-streaming-service-unveiled-at-ces/

  • WizzNL
    January 20, 2014 at 11:21 am PST

    @Dogwalker4000: Theres also a post where it isnt mentioned and im referring to that post. The 1 that got copy and pasted from the US Blog without editing.

  • WizzNL
    January 20, 2014 at 11:29 am PST

    @Dogwalker4000: Besides that, the post you are referring to is from Jan. 7 and the 1 im referring to is from Jan. 8. Members might read that as the latent info and theres no mention of US only in that article. If you hide behind the fact SCEA and SCEE are different teams you shouldnt copy/ paste from that team.

  • WizzNL
    January 20, 2014 at 11:47 am PST

    @Fred: Thanks for replying but when you talk about a difference of 50/60 % i cant see those things being the reason for it.
    You are right about the Blogpost from Jan. 7 about Playstation Now, but im referring to the newer post on Jan. 8. Why dont you just edit the post to prevent confusion like this. The comments in this post also mention theres no word about it not being available in EU this Summer, but it didnt get edited afterwards either.
    Its nice we dont have to wait langer on our Pluscontent but that would mean it should be live this wednesday ( it got replaced every 4 weeks before, so that would be in 2 days ), but we havent even got our announcement.

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 11:54 am PST

      See above – the post is now edited. Thanks for highlighting.
      You’re not quite right about PS Plus content being updated every 4 weeks. There are 12 updates a year – one per month. 52 weeks in a year, divided by 12 months, equals one update every 4.3333 weeks. In reality, that translates to a few 5 week gaps between updates every so often.

  • Massacre2011
    January 20, 2014 at 11:49 am PST

    Fred I have a question that I think deserves an answer. Why are publishers getting away with charging the same/higher price for digital copies?
    If you think about it their is no cost to make and ship the product. The only real cost is the bandwidth to allow the user to download the game. In some cases I have found the physical copy to be cheaper then the digital.

  • nirvanadino
    January 20, 2014 at 11:51 am PST

    So IGC games are gonna be announced today ? If not when, please anwser…

  • WizzNL
    January 20, 2014 at 11:59 am PST

    @Fred: Thanks for editing the post, i hope in future those get edited before posting :)
    My bad regarding PS Plus if thats the case. Im a subscriber since Summer 2013 so im only used to the 4 weeks rotation.

  • Witcher70
    January 20, 2014 at 12:06 pm PST

    Reading one of your above comments about IGC does that mean the leaked plus content is wrong ? i’m not overly keen on horror games such as outlast but if it is i hope there is PS4 indies coming on wednesday to tide me over till Tomb Raider is released

  • Witcher70
    January 20, 2014 at 12:08 pm PST

    That question was aimed at Fred !!!

  • hayzink
    January 20, 2014 at 12:09 pm PST

    I’m really looking forward to giving olioli a go as it looks like crazy addictive fun and I’m well jealous that you have an advanced copy Fred as you unwittingly boast about on twitter lol we can get our hands on that this week right?
    With regards to ps4 titles they are a bit thin on the ground as I moaned about last week but if memory serves me correct we have at least 2 new Indies to come before the end of the month right?
    What happened to the community awards this year did I miss them? There was a blog post and stuff last year and you also pointed out catkiller was most active blog user etc.
    Finally do you have a contact at telltale that actually answers you , I have been trying to get info on twd season 2 and wolf among us for vita from them and they just never answer fans :( ign are saying that we won’t get the ports till the full season of both games are out however I can’t see anything that states that from telltale and it’s kinda different from what the previously said on the blog, can you try to get answer for me please.
    Anyways hope you managed to get to see wolf of wall street at the weekend after all because its one cracker of a film.

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 12:50 pm PST

      Yes, OlliOlli is out on Wednesday! You should all grab it! Very, very fun.
      As for PS4 titles, I think the next major release for January is Tomb Raider DEfinitive Edition. Things should start to warm from February onwards, both on the indie side and AAA. We’ll keep you posted here on PSB.
      Telltale – I’ll see what I can find out! Generally, it’s up to them to announce their news though. I’m sure all will become clear soon.
      Alas, didn’t catch WOWS. Next weekend hopefully. My only movie watching this weekend was a grotty/fun indie horror called Contracted and Star Trek Into Darkness (B-).

  • hayzink
    January 20, 2014 at 12:13 pm PST

    @fred
    I always thought we got 13 plus updates a year due to USA having more titles at the start!
    It was said they got more content but it would hang around longer than ours and due to us having the extra refresh it all worked out even in the end.
    Was this just applicable to the first year of the igc?

  • Golwar
    January 20, 2014 at 12:21 pm PST

    @Fred
    #34 You probably can’t know that as you weren’t around when IGC got introduced. Initially the IGC really got replaced every 4 weeks by SCEE, while it was monthly for SCEA.
    Ross explained us that en detail at the beginning, it was his intention to deliver us 13 updates per year (and the also abandoned PPP program) as compensation for our IGC being smaller than that in NA.
    Sort after Chris took over, he dropped that 4 week rythm. Pretty much an old story, I’m surprised that some folks only register it by now. But I understand their frustration that Chris so often drops parts of the IGC to our disadvantage, with barely any or no communication azt all.
    #27
    While you argument seems reasonable, it doesn’t explain why other stores handle this far better (and fairer).
    Steam and Microsoft also have to face this “complex” continent. They have the very same publishers as their partners. The same laws and regulations to obey.
    Yet you see them doing their sales globally, with identical discount rates for everyone.
    So sorry, but this isn’t a problem that Europe is responsible for. It is Sony’s failure to handle this topic in a way that delivers satisfying results for us customers.

    • Fred Dutton
      January 20, 2014 at 12:53 pm PST

      Correct, I can’t speak to what happened pre summer 2012, but as of now it’s 12 main monthly updates a year, with the occasional extra.
      All I can say re. Store prices is as above. Keep letting us know when you see things you don’t like – we’re always listening and trying our best to make improvements.

  • Golwar
    January 20, 2014 at 12:22 pm PST

    *Shortly after Chris took over

  • Golwar
    January 20, 2014 at 12:29 pm PST

    But also huge thanks Fred that you stay around and answer to those topics. While I don’t agree with you in every point, it is appreciated.
    I wish though that Sony would hire someone from Steam’s store team to learn how they manage their excellent service. They prove that it IS possible to do great sales everywhere. And they don’t do it just once or twice a year, they manage it every single day.
    I already described digital price structures by SCEE as one of my major reason why I resisted getting a PS4 so far. While parts of the January sale were good, I have yet to be convinced. :)

  • hayzink
    January 20, 2014 at 12:38 pm PST

    @golwar
    How many titles did we actually very from PPP was it just 2 in the end up retro grade and rock of ages I think.

  • Golwar
    January 20, 2014 at 12:49 pm PST

    I think they delivered all 4 PPP games that Ross had announced for the first year hayzink, but nothing after them.
    Not sure anymore if the other 2 were Big Sky Infinity and Knytt Underground though.

  • Golwar
    January 20, 2014 at 1:01 pm PST

    @Fred
    We’ll see. We often could register little progress, which was soon after forgotten again.
    I criticized varying discount rates for UK/Euro a lot, for example. And suddenly, for the January sale, this got improved. It was almost perfect and I appreciated it. See http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2013/12/24/the-playstation-store-january-sale-starts-today/comment-page-5/#comment-461039
    What I fear now is that this little progress might be forgotten with the next sales once more. Old nasty SCEE habits are tough to get rid of. ;)

  • BlueVane
    January 20, 2014 at 2:16 pm PST

    I really hope we’re getting Outlast along with the US, because if we’re not, I am going to be massively disappointed. I have every faith in you, Sony Europe! Do the right thing! :P

  • hayzink
    January 20, 2014 at 3:10 pm PST

    @fred
    Thanks for the reply Fred but you missed one lol, did the community awards happen this year?

  • Sicmay
    January 20, 2014 at 4:08 pm PST

    You say keep telling you so i’m going to add my 2 cents (or £30 according to regional pricing):
    1. Sales in the US are consistently cheaper – most of the 12 deals of xmas sales were poor.
    2. Despite saying in the past the ps3 IGC wouldnt be affected ps4 launch you then dropped one ps3 title a month (US didnt do this)
    3. Despite saying the Vita yearly games would be rotated out before the end of 2013 you have failed to do this, stating you didnt feel it was the right time to do so. What does that even mean? You didnt feel it was the right time to offer to customers what you had promised them and they believed they were buying into.

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