Sony: PS5 price difficult to determine because we are competing

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 4, 2020 6:48 PM CST

Sony could repeat 2013's big sweep by making the PlayStation 5 cheaper than the Xbox Series X.

Sony: PS5 price difficult to determine because we are competing

In its recent Q3'19 earnings Q&A session, Sony had some interesting remarks on the PlayStation 5's pricing. The company isn't ready to reveal any specifics on the PS5 yet (that rumored February event probably isn't happening), and price is something that's hard to lock down for a number of reasons. One big reasons is competition.

Sony Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki hints the PS5's price tag may not be revealed until after the Xbox Series X's. Sony could wait to sweep in like it did last-gen with a $399 price tag and completely dominate next-gen all over again.

Continue reading: Sony: PS5 price difficult to determine because we are competing (full post)

Life Isn't So Good: LG drops out of MWC over coronavirus

Anthony Garreffa | Trade Shows | Feb 4, 2020 6:32 PM CST

It's nearly that time of the year again, where the mobile industry descends on Barcelona, Spain -- Mobile World Congress. But South Korean giant LG ELectronics has said it has pulled out of the event over the coronavirus outbreak.

Life Isn't So Good: LG drops out of MWC over coronavirus

An LG spokesperson told The Verge: "With the safety of its employees and general public foremost in mind, LG has decided to withdraw from exhibiting and participating in MWC 2020 later this month in Barcelona, Spain. This decision will prevent needlessly exposing hundreds of LG employees to international travel, which most health experts have advised".

LG continued: "In lieu of its participation in MWC, LG will be holding separate events in the near future to announce its 2020 mobile products".

Continue reading: Life Isn't So Good: LG drops out of MWC over coronavirus (full post)

Tesla's market cap is now worth more than Bitcoin's

Jak Connor | Business, Financial & Legal | Feb 4, 2020 6:15 PM CST

Tesla has shaken up the financial market with the company's stock price skyrocketing in comparison to where it was sitting a year ago. Now, the market cap of Tesla has exceeded Bitcoin's.

Tesla's market cap is now worth more than Bitcoin's

According to CNBC, Tesla opened at nearly $883 per share, then it hit an all-time high of $968.99 per share, bringing the company's total market cap to above $170 billion. For a helpful comparison to just how big that is, other car companies such as GM and Ford closed out Tuesday with a combined market cap of $85 billion. Tesla is more than double that.

Now a new metric has been thrown into the mix. Tesla's market cap is now larger than Bitcoin's. Yes, Tesla, the automotive and energy company, was worth more than a digital currency (at that period in time). At the time of writing this, Bitcoin's market cap is currently sitting at around $166 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. This means that during Tuesday's high, Tesla's market cap was larger than Bitcoin's, quite an achievement for Mr. Musk and Tesla as a whole.

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Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser is leaving in March 2020

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 4, 2020 5:15 PM CST

It's an end of an era at Rockstar Games: Studio co-founder Dan Houser is leaving next month, a departure that could affect Grand Theft Auto VI's development.

Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser is leaving in March 2020

Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser is leaving the studio after 22 years of games development, a new Take-Two SEC filing confirms.

"After an extended break beginning in the spring of 2019, Dan Houser, Vice President, Creative at Rockstar Games, will be leaving the company. Dan Houser's last day will be March 11, 2020. We are extremely grateful for his contributions," Take-Two wrote in the release.

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Google didn't mention Stadia a single time in its recent earnings call

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 4, 2020 4:28 PM CST

Google just revealed titanic earnings for its fiscal year, but there was no mention of its new game-streaming platform Stadia. How curious.

Google didn't mention Stadia a single time in its recent earnings call

At the beginning, I called Stadia a revolutionary game-changer. It still has that potential. But Google's incredible inept handling of the service--requiring your phone to use the service, weird forking of other tied services into Stadia, having to buy each game individually, and the expensive $150 up-front cost while the free sub is MIA--has set it back a fair amount. Right now Stadia is lukewarm at best.

Interestingly enough, Google didn't discuss the service whatsoever in its recent earnings call. Google, like Microsoft, doesn't care tremendously about gaming; they're both titans who earn billions from other segments. Case in point: Google earned $4.7 billion from YouTube ads in Q4 (more than Microsoft's entire Xbox segment makes), and an insane $134.8 billion from ads in the total year. Still, though, I expected some discussion on Stadia, especially given how synergistically it was to tie into YouTube, streaming, and overall digital engagement.

Continue reading: Google didn't mention Stadia a single time in its recent earnings call (full post)

Blizzard apologizes for Warcraft 3: Reforged, pledges to fix game

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 4, 2020 3:38 PM CST

Blizzard apologizes for Warcraft 3: Reforged and promises that fixes are coming. But some features may remain gone for good.

Blizzard apologizes for Warcraft 3: Reforged, pledges to fix game

Today Blizzard did two major things: It said sorry for bungling Warcraft 3: Reforged's launch, which was plagued by missing features like custom campaigns and profiles, and outright replacing the original WC3; and then it made promises to patch the game and make it better.

"First off, we want to say we're sorry to those of you who didn't have the experience you wanted, and we'd like to share our plans for what's coming next," Blizzard community manager Kaivax said in the post.

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Xbox Series X may support CFExpress memory cards

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 4, 2020 1:33 PM CST

The mysterious slot in Xbox Series X's prototype is actually a CFExpress port, not a debugging port, hinting the console will support portable memory cards for expanded memory.

Xbox Series X may support CFExpress memory cards

The Xbox Series X may support external memory cards on the CFExpress standard, sources tell Thurrott's Brad Sams. CFExpress memory is primarily used in high-end camera memory cards, and utilizes PCIe 3.0 across NVMe for transfer speeds up to 4GB/sec. This matches up with the Xbox Series X's maximum SSD speeds. There are plans to update CFExpress to support PCIe 4.0 as well.

If the port is retained in the final hardware, console memory cards are coming back in a big way. Gamers will be able to buy CFExpress memory cards to expand storage without compromising speeds. Hooking up an older mechanical HDD or even a slower SSD to the Xbox Series X will cause speed discrepancies and possibly impact performance, but CFExpress storage will match the internal SSD quite well.

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PlayStation earns $5.6 billion in Q3, makes 23% of Sony's earnings

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 4, 2020 12:15 PM CST

Sony's latest quarterly earnings clearly show the generation is winding down for the PlayStation 5, but the drop isn't dramatic enough to significantly disrupt the PS4's current cycle.

PlayStation earns $5.6 billion in Q3, makes 23% of Sony's earnings

Throughout Sony's Q3'19 period, which runs from October - December 31, 2019, the company raked in $5.8 billion from overall Games and Network Service sales, a 20% drop from last year. Both hardware and software sales are down year-over-year too. Sony sold 6.2 million PS4s in the Holiday 2019 quarter, down 25% YoY, and a combined 81.1 million digital and physical PS4 games, down nearly 7% YoY.

These trends can be attributed to the absence of major heavy-hitting third-party games like the Q3 2018 launch of Red Dead Redemption 2, as well as the hardware market starting to peak.

Continue reading: PlayStation earns $5.6 billion in Q3, makes 23% of Sony's earnings (full post)

PlayStation 5 February reveal may not happen, Sony needs more time

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 4, 2020 11:17 AM CST

Sony today launched a PS5 website portion on PlayStation.com, and also might've squashed rumors of a February reveal event.

PlayStation 5 February reveal may not happen, Sony needs more time

Sony's big PS5 February reveal event might be postponed after all. On a new PlayStation 5 website, the company says it's "not quite ready to reveal the PlayStation 5," and prompts gamers to sign up for a digital newsletter for more info before and as it happens. The sign-up button isn't yet live, though.

"We've begun to share some of the incredible features you can expect from PlayStation 5, but we're not quite ready to fully unveil the next generation of PlayStation. Sign up below to be among the first to receive updates as we announce them, including news on the PS5 release date, PS5 price and the upcoming roster of PS5 launch games," the site reads.

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PS4 shipments top 108.9 million, actual sales at 106 million

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 4, 2020 11:10 AM CST

Sony's PlayStation 4 family has now accumulated 108.6 million worldwide shipments to date since 2013, cementing its reign as the best-selling system of the current generation.

PS4 shipments top 108.9 million, actual sales at 106 million

Today Sony announced its Fiscal Year Q3'19 earnings results, that while positive, show a clear decline in overall games revenues. In the Holiday 2019 quarter, Sony sold 6.1 million PlayStation 4 consoles, bringing the total sell-in (shipments) to 108.6 million. Actual sales, or sell-through to consumers, sit at 106 million.

The games-maker recorded $1.36 billion from PS4 hardware sales, down a noticable 33% year-over-year. In fact, overall hardware sales during Sony's busiest quarter were down nearly 25% from last year's console push. Digital software was also likewise down 35% from last year, driven by lower sales of third-party titles on the PlayStation Network.

Continue reading: PS4 shipments top 108.9 million, actual sales at 106 million (full post)