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Final Fantasy VII Now Available For Android

July 7, 2016 By Daniel Giordano Leave a Comment

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Aerith, as seen in the Final Fantasy VII animation.

Final Fantasy VII is one of the games who has stood the tests of time. With its initial release in 1997, the seventh installment in the always popular Final Fantasy series is nearing a decade of popularity.

The decade marker has been hit by several games in the past but those games have received balance patches over the years. The gameplay style of other cult classic decade-old games additionally had more replayability offering either several multiple choices or mechanics such as New Game Plus.

Final Fantasy VII inspired sequels and prequels, novels, comic books, and a movie to name a few. In 2015 it was announced that the game was finally receiving an overly demanded remake, but there is talk that it may end up a different game altogether.

Android users are now able to buy, download, and play Final Fantasy VII on their smart devices. Considering there is almost no chance for even the Remake version ever to make it to Xbox Consoles, Android is the last platform on which the game finally arrived.

VALVe re-brought the game to attention in 2013, when it became available for purchase on the Steam Store. The iOS Store received its version of Final Fantasy VII in August 2015. Sony also made the game replayable to the PlayStation 4 in December 2015, almost nine years after its original release on the first PlayStation in January 1997.

Final Fantasy VII for Android is priced at $16 and requires 2GB of storage space to play but a bit over 4GB to initially install, making the classic a steep investment not compatible with older devices.

Much like the iOS version, the Android release of Final Fantasy allows players to skip random fights, and to max out all their values entirely minimizing the duration of the otherwise lengthy combat scenes. Realistically, the game is only affected by a strategic system alone as some fights can still be lost with poor choices even when having capped out stats.

The original code of the game also comes with its caveats for smart devices. Android users are advised to safe as often as they remember and to also backup their saves. A glitch which will probably never be fixable unless the engine for Final Fantasy VII is made open source affects how data is stored in the game.

The glitch causes sudden crashes with no data saved on forced exit leading players to lose all their unsaved data or sometimes all their game data, hence the backups. Even so, Final Fantasy is a cult classic for a reason and is worth the time of any lover of the genre.

Is The Final Fantasy VII Remake Coming Out On The 10th Anniversary In January 2017?

Image and Videos Courtesy of YouTube.

Insomniac Games is Working on New Spider-Man, Exclusive For PS4

June 14, 2016 By David Crozier Leave a Comment

The new Spider-Man title is to be developed by Insomniac Games and it will be a PlayStation 4 exclusive.

Marvel! Sony! Insomniac! By your powers combined, I am Spider-man!

Sony’s E3 2016 showcase proved to be full of wonder and amazement, even more so when Sony officially announced that they were working with Insomniac Games to bring a new PlayStation 4 exclusive Spider-man title.

The trailer was everything one currently expects from a Marvel title – dramatic, heroic music, brilliant and beautifully contrasted sceneries, and light-hearted down-to-earth narration.

The Spider-man trailer starts off by showing the gorgeously animated and populated New York, Spider-man’s regular playground. Everything from lighting to contrast, to saturation makes the visuals look almost real.

Considering that for trailers of previous titles, Insomniac Games used their in-game graphics engine with slight alterations in the past, perhaps this title will also have almost trailer-like graphics. Exclusivity to just one port means that a lot more effort will be put into the title being stable and streamlined.

Antagonists in the trailer have one common feature – a scary metallic mask covering their face.

Well, that at least goes for the trailer. It is yet unknown how many enemies will be present in the new Spider-man. However, Insomniac Games have stated on the record that Marvel and Sony have tasked them to create “a brand-new, authentic Spider-Man story.”

Story aside, the discussion about the trailer would not be complete without addressing the elephant in the room (or trailer) – the Suit.

The suit’s design tries its best to stay hardcore classic, keeping the exact shades of red and blue that Spider-man fans have known and loved since the early days of the animated series.

The eyes are also classic, with a larger part of white, allowing for the black contours to mimic facial expressions and emotions.

Both the costume’s webbing and the actual launched webs stay true to their origins. It was unable to tell if this Spider-man is using a mechanical device for his web slingers or if it’s part of his mutation.

Nevertheless, the spider symbols are new. A stark color of white, identical to the eyes. White stripes stemming from the inner part of the elbow reach the gloves. Additionally, the outer sole of the shoes appears to have some white, metallic, elements. Their purpose is yet undefined, but they could be meant to aid in either jumping or wall-walking.

Spider-man is the first ever title that Insomniac Games will be working on which will not be an in-house concept. While their dedication as Marvel fans cannot be questioned, it is yet to be decided by the fans if their Spider-man will make history. “No pressure, right?”

Image Courtesy of PlayStation’s Blog on Flickr.

God of War is Back and Kratos Has a Viking Beard

June 14, 2016 By Daniel Giordano Leave a Comment

Kratos, the the protagonist of the God of War series, with a Viking beard still looks very intimidating.

Now that he’s done with the Greek Pantheon, Kratos is going to reap havoc in the Aesir.

Sony kicked off their E3 2016 showcase as strong as ever presenting their newest title in the God of War series, simply named “God of War”. The gameplay demonstration played on the PlayStation 4, so from a hardware standing point, Sony did not yet reveal anything new.

The God of War demo starts out at a mellow, almost cinematic pace, with a young boy in a cold environment. He is beckoned to a hut where Kratos, his father, the protagonist of the God of War series, reveals himself to the audience.

In stark contrast to previous titles, he appears older, more weathered, and his voice is, for a lack of better words, less shouty. The greatest change, however, is the beard. It suits the new character, but it also manages to define his new demeanor better.

Kratos decides that the time had come for his son to learn to hunt properly. He was also hungry. In Spartan manner, the two leave the hut and begin to track deer.

The environment was beautiful and snowy, but more importantly, it was distinctly not Greek, the setting and mythology in which the action of all previous titles was set in. The minimalistic game interface confirmed the non-Greek setting and mythology when several prompts were first displayed with a beautiful arrangement of Nordic runes.

The hunting expedition quickly escalates into combat as several Draugr-like undead attack Kratos and his son. With a brilliant and paced display of military martial prowess, Kratos uses his weapon, a bearded ax with frost abilities, to dispatch his foes. His son assists in the fight by not getting into trouble, a valuable lesson that all younger video game characters should learn.

Also in Spartan manner, the hunt for deer resumes after the combat, making no further note of the fallen enemies. It is yet unclear if this is happening because Kratos won’t let a few undead side-track him from his hunger or because the environment itself is littered with the undead.

The troll fight that follows is absolutely gorgeous. The visual streamline between animations, the perfectly chosen music, the faded, non-intrusive interface, all give it a cinematic feeling of epic proportions. In contrast to other God of War titles, the fight included more dodging and less quick-time events. The Spartan Rage power is still present, and it was a feast for the eyes.

After the troll fight, the hunt for deer resumes for a second time and with precise application of his father’s advice, Kratos’ son fells a stag with shimmering ice crystals growing out of his antlers.

The gameplay demonstration is an attempt at presenting the rites of manhood, a boy and his father hunting in a harsh environment, learning to rely on one another. And it would have been a beautiful and emotional moment with a lesson everybody could ponder for the next minutes. Sony, however, ended the demonstration with an epic Nordic dragon flying overhead, teasing the viewers with a third fight that nobody got to see.

The new God of War logo also has Nordic runes etched all across what used to be the Omega symbol. That symbol has now joined resembling a blood circle or an ouroboros.

The Gameplay trailer was fantastic. God of War was always popular and acclaimed, and it’s good that Sony is bringing it back while also changing the setting to one that is somewhat more popular now.

How do you feel about the new God of War? Did you enjoy the slightly slower pace of gameplay? What is your take on Kratos’ majestic beard? Let us know.

Image Courtesy of PlayStation’s YouTube channel.

New StarVR from Acer and Starbreeze

May 16, 2016 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

The new StarVR headset

A new VR headset called StarVR will be the “shared-custody brainchild” of Acer and Starbreeze’s partnership.

In a joint release sent out this Sunday, the game maker Starbreeze and the PC maker Acer, will form a partnership to manufacture, launch and sell a new virtual reality headset called StarVR.

This new move could bring positive change for the PC maker’s overall ailing business, or it could create a disaster. The numbers will show; it must be known, however that since 2011 Acer is on a continuous PC market sliding slope.

Starbreeze, the relatively small Sweedish Company, announced the StarVR headset a year ago, but giving its fierce giant Facebook, Sony and HTC rivals and its personal $10 million 2015 sales, they needed a partner.

Starbreeze needed leverage to reach the level of manufacture and distribution of Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, and Vive; they needed help to be able to compete fully with these powerfully marketed headsets.

Nevertheless, the product is believed to be one of the best VR headsets to enter the market. Its standout feature is a 210-degree field of vision, a view that mimics much better what someone sees in real life than the 110-degree vision field of Oculus and Vive.

Although Acer is in freefall with the sales growth, the company’s annual sales reach $1.2 billion. This means that Acer has the money and engineering capacity to scale Starbreeze’s StarVR. More important than that, Acer has the immense computing power needed to deliver the deeply engaging 3D video experience of the virtual reality.

Acer’s bet on Starbreeze might, in fact, be a smart one because PC makers are almost absent from the virtual reality business and everybody – see Amazon or Alibaba – are investing in VR connecting platforms and software.

Acer will likely capture a good portion of the VR market profit.

The advisory firm Digi-Capital says that by 2020, up to “40% of all VR sales will come from hardware.”

To have a virtual reality experience you must have the hardware, yes, but the profit doesn’t stem just from the hardware, it comes from the virtual experience as well.

Therefore, Acer’s partnership with Starbreeze is no chance. With StarVR, Acer will be at both ends of the VR rope: both software with Starbreeze, and its personal computing power and hardware.

Image Source: Everythingvr

Sony Is Working on Sulphur Batteries

December 18, 2015 By Daniel Giordano Leave a Comment

Sony is on its way of making the first sulphur-based batteries.

As Sherlock would put it: “The game is afoot, Watson! Let’s now dwindle”. Only, this time, its not about Moriarity’s antics, it’s about who’s device delivers the best services. According to recent reports, Sony is working on Sulphur batteries, which are able to extend a phone’s power by 40 percent.

There is much to be said when it comes to electronic devices, more specifically in the area of mobile solutions. Nowadays, it’s all about taking your laptop for a spin or getting your iPhone or smartwatch to measure your athletic performances.

What can we say? The future sounds good, looks awesome, but when it comes to battery management, not one device out there can boast on that. In fact, there are a couple of devices on the market which are capable of achieving outstanding performances in some areas but lose much when it comes to battery life.

What to do? Well, many producers have come up with various solutions. Apparently, the most convenient solution found on the market is to carry around a portable battery recharger, basically your run-of-the-mill outlet charger, but smaller in size.

It seems like a great solution if you are capable of finding an outlet in time, maybe before your device runs out of juice. But Sony plans on tackling this subject with something entirely new.

According to various sources, it would seem that Sony is working on sulphur batteries, which, allegedly, are more versatile than lithium polymer batteries.

Moreover, it would seem that this isn’t the first time Sony tried to tackle with the sulphur technology, and, as a matter of fact, this concept is not entirely new. In the past, Sony was planning on making sulphur batteries, but something went terribly wrong and the project had to be abandoned.

According to some speculations, it would seem that during the first trials, the sulphur batteries’ electrolytes were capable of dissolving power at a much faster rate than batteries based on a lithium polymer compound.

But recently, Sony announced that they found a way around this obstacle and that they are on their ways of producing the first prototype of sulphur-based batteries.

When will the batteries be available for purchase, this we do not know? What we do know is that the new system needs a lot of testing before it can be put into practice. But, for the sake of academical debates, we can state that when the new batteries will arrive, all producers will begin making thinner and powerful devices.

Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org

Sony Is Looking Into PS Fashion

October 24, 2015 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Sony Is Looking Into PS Fashion

Not only is the PlayStation the best console in the world right now, but it looks like Sony is looking into PS fashion as well. Starting with November this year, Sony is introducing faceplates for its famous PlayStation 4. If you are tired of the regular black and white versions or you want to add a little more color into your gaming life, the faceplates are exactly what you might be looking for.

There are a total of four faceplates that have been officially announced for the PlayStation 4: white, blue, red and orange. They fit a variety of needs, depending on what color or mood you might want to get yourself into when you are playing your favorite games. It does seem pointless in the beginning, but adding a little color to your PlayStation can actually improve your gaming experience a lot.

Colors influence the way we feel and, as long as you have a little extra in the background, you can change the way you play or the way you perceive you are playing, even if you do not notice it. Orange, for example, is a great color for learning, so if you want to learn some new techniques in Destiny or any other game you want to get good at, orange is the right thing for you.

There is no doubt that Sony has enabled the PlayStation to look differently because of the lack of choice buyers have when they look at the console. Sure, it’s the inside that matters, but a different color might represent you as an individual. It makes you feel unique, because you really are, and it also enables you to make a choice. Black and white do not really seem like a choice now, do they?

There is some bad news, however. There will also be two extra models, gold and silver, which will not be available to some countries such as Australia. The reason behind this is that precious metals taxes work differently with the government legislation, so making you pay extra money is a big no-no. Sony intends to keep their customers and they know taxing extra is not a fair way to do it.

Now that Sony is looking into PS fashion, you can also look into what color fits you most. Gaming will be a totally better experience when you start feeling like yourself.

Photo Credits pushsquare.com

Not Much You Can Do To Stop The PS 4

October 24, 2015 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Not Much You Can Do To Stop The PS 4

The PlayStation 4 continues to remain the most dominant gaming platform on the market. There is not much you can do to stop the PS 4, especially because people seem so passionate about it and it really offers a great gaming experience, too. In fact, the NPD Group responsible for analyzing the PlayStation’s sales figures indicates that this is the 5^th month in a row in which the console holds everyone else with a tight grip.

Sony were pleased with their results and they want to thank fans for the support they have given the company. But this is not where the journey ends. Sony intends to make its PlayStation 4 a whole lot bigger and plans involve staying on top for many months to follow. After having witnessed how much fans pulled the PlayStation upwards, this is what the company had to say:

As we kick off the holiday season, we would like to take a moment to thank fans for making PlayStation 4 the best-selling console!“

The Xbox has not remained silent during this period of time. Microsoft is trying to up its game by promoting titles like Forza Motorsport 6 and FIFA 16. There has been quite some growth with these titles in the last two months, mostly because they are newly released and they incite every sports fan out there. It would be a mistake for Microsoft not to capitalize on this ascension and things are looking pretty good thus far.

The yearly review does not look so good, on the other hand, for the console market. Compared to September 2014, this year has registered lower sales in the domain. While there might be some other mechanisms that have triggered this performance, NPD believes that most of it was caused by Destiny’s performance, which pretty much glued players to one console and one game for 99% of the time.

Either way, there is not much you can do to stop the PS 4. It’s been dominating the market for months now and even Microsoft are honest about not being able to compete with the PlayStation anymore. On top of that, Activision is willing to bring Call of Duty to Sony now because this is the only way they know that they will have success with the franchise.

Considering the experience that Sony Is providing via PlayStation, their number one stop is well deserved and we think that they will be able to remain there until the end of the year.

Photo Credits wikimedia.org

PS4 Price Cut

October 10, 2015 By Nicholas Anderton Leave a Comment

PS4 Price Cut

If you were present at the Tokyo Game Show, you might be familiar with the fact that Sony officially announced a PS4 price cut in Japan. You know what this means, right? We westerners are probably going to get the same special treat as well. This is fantastic news for every console lover or anybody who wants to get a console, especially because the PlayStation 4 is dominating the console market right now.

But there is a big question on everybody’s lips. Now that we know that there is a PS4 price cut, we also want to know when. Because the faster we get it, the better. Imagine how a few dollars can change the entire experience! If the PS 4 would even be $50 cheaper, you could get one very good game with it or two decent games. It’s quite a deal.

And the good news is? That this seems to be the exact sum that is going to be cut from the initial price. Better get your wallets ready everyone. It’s time to show Steam that PS users are more dedicated that the PC ones! Well, that might not happen anytime soon, but there is nothing bad in being positive right?

Also, what would be very interesting to see is how Microsoft would deal with this price cut, since the PlayStation 4 would go down to the same price as the Xbox One. Competition is still in Sony’s favor after we have seen countless times that, despite having a cheaper console, Microsoft’s Xbox demand is way, way under PlayStations, even if they cost $50 more.

A lot of people are wondering when this announcement is going to be made and speculations have already risen. According to the console believers, we should expect the big news somewhere around Black Friday. Not only does Sony benefit from Black Friday anyway, but making this announcement before such a big event would definitely turn the massive console tide towards them and they are a company that can deal with the big wave.

Microsoft should take this move into account. If they don’t, they would be at a serious disadvantage. Some say that it would be a good idea to drop the Xbox One’s price for $50 as well, but this would bring Microsoft almost no benefit apart from attracting a few customers on the market who are not exactly the PlayStation type.

We just have to wait and see how things unfold, but from our point of view, Sony is playing quite hard.

Photo Credits wikimedia.org

Sony, LG, Samsung and Dell Tablets Will Have Preloaded Skype and Microsoft Office

May 27, 2015 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Microsoft has reached deals with LG, Sony, Dell and a few other electronics producers to install some of its most popular apps on Android tablets.

Dell, Sony, LG, and other important electronics brands customers will soon be able to use Skype, Microsoft Office and cloud services on their Android tablets immediately after they bought them after Microsoft signed an agreement with the OEMs to give out the installed apps and software.

The deal reaches to 31 partners, Haier and other smaller companies being part of the agreement as well. Microsoft has also included them in earlier contracts closed with with Samsung, Dell, Pegatron, which will allow Skype and Microsoft Office to be installed on their tablets. A significant number of these apps are already found on Samsung Galaxy S6.

The business deal with Microsoft has not been completely released, but the tech giant has announced a unilateral aim to open up new ways for gaining revenue for each of the partners.

LG is soon to start preloading Microsoft apps and software in their soon to be launched tablet, while Sony has already said they will be using them in their upcoming Xperia Z4 tablet in June.

The hardware companies from the deal will soon be uploading their Android tablets with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneDrive, OneNote, and Skype in the future months, a fact that shows Microsoft’s ambition to have their applications and software on non-Windows mobile gadgets.

The partnerships will enlarge Microsoft’s ecosystem to a large range of mobile devices to compensate for the tech giant’s slow growth in its own mobile gadget sales. With the applications installed on Android devices, Microsoft will manage to get its programs into the market with ease.

The software company’s move to offer free MS Office apps to Android gadgets has even included iPhones and iPads, after it gave out a subscription-free Office apps, while separate individual apps launched for Android and iOS in November last year.

At the same time, Microsoft has announced that Cortana – a digital personal assistant – will soon be available as a separate app specific to Apple iOS and Google Android.

“Our strategic agreements with these partners demonstrate how Microsoft is leveraging the scale of the hardware ecosystem, and working with partners in new ways to deliver rich experiences to our customers. This is a cornerstone of our cross-platform services strategy, to bring an array of Microsoft services to every person on every device”, the company announced in a blog post.

Image Source: Derek Lovell Coaching

Sony Xperia Z3 Review – The Perfect Phone?

September 22, 2014 By David Crozier Leave a Comment

In a recent article we presented you the Sony Xperia C3, the selfie smartphone and today the wait for Sony’s flagship smartphone is over! We give you the Sony Xperia Z3 review.

We can’t put into words how excited we are about the Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone. Sony has gotten us accustomed to impressive phones, but the Z3 is much more than that. Sony keeps improving their flagship smartphone and the Z3 comes very close to being the perfect phone. There, we’ve said it!

Sony Xperia Z3 Review

The Sony Xperia Z3 is so much more than an Android phone. It is smaller than the Z2 and lighter than its predecessor. The new Sony Xperia Z3 offers us 10% more battery than the Samsung Galazy S5. What else is impressive about the Sony Xperia Z3? The 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 processor and the 3 GB of RAM. Unfortunately Sony’s still quite bad with internal storage as the maximum it will go is 32 GB.

Sony simply refuses to put a QuadHD screen on their phones and we’re quite OK with that. The IPS LCD screen has a 1080p resolution, which makes it clear and easy to see.

When it comes to the camera, we know that more megapixels don’t necessarily mean a better camera, but a 20.7 MP sensor is still pretty impressive. It comes with a wide-angle 25 mm G Lens which means that all those megapixels are going to be of use. Sony’s SteadyShot technology is removing the shake from the camera when shooting video, which gives you amazing video recordings.

Should you get it? If you like Android, the Sony Xperia Z3 is indeed the perfect phone. It’s got dream-like tech specs, it looks amazing, it’s waterproof and it’s got great battery life. Even if you don’t like Android too much, we suggest giving it a go, it might surprise you.