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Howdy! This week the team dives into the frights and delights of Dead Space, featuring an interview with Motive’s Roman Campos-Oriola (Creative Director) and Philippe Ducharme (Senior Producer).

Stuff We Talked About

• DualSense Edge controller
• Season: A Letter to the Future
• PowerWash Simulator
• Forspoken
• Dead Space (interview begins at 19:32)

The Cast

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Last week, we asked you to highlight Lightsabers from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which is available as a PlayStation Plus Monthly Game for January. Here are this week’s highlights:

Mannitugames shares Cal raising his blue lightsaber against the Second Sister’s red lightsaber.

bombeard shares Cal raising a yellow lightsaber in a dark cavern.

coalabr14 shares Cal poised to strike with a double sided green lightsaber.

Undead0117 shares a detailed look at a blue lightsaber’s handle.

justinphotomode shares Cal clashing with another character wielding a red lightsaber in both hands

MdeavorVP shares Cal balancing with a double sided purple lightsaber.

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? 

THEME: The Last of Us Part I
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on February 1, 2023

Next week, we’re headed back to the world of The Last of Us Part I. Share spine-tingling moments using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

With the release of God of War (2018), we were absolutely amazed by how many people wanted to cosplay characters from the game – even those we didn’t have the chance to make guides for.

With the God of War Ragnarök cosplay guides, we wanted to make as many as we could to help provide resources for all our fans who want to take on creating our characters.

We’re happy to share that we’ve added ten additional characters from Lúnda’s workshops notes to the God of War Ragnarök cosplay page: Freya, Thor, Angrboda, Brok & Sindri, Týr, Thrúd, Heimdall, Odin, and Gná. 

Each guide contains character renders, close-ups of detailed pieces, and shots of their weapons/accessories. You’ll also find in the pages additional lore details handcrafted by our writers here at Santa Monica Studio and more sketches from B is for Boy artist Romina Tempest.

After you’ve taken a look at the new guides, make sure you check out the interview with Lead Character Artists Dela Longfish below on how the team approached creating the designs for Freya, Thor, and Angrboda. 

Community cosplay partners

In addition to the new guides, we’ve once again partnered with members of our extremely talented cosplay community to provide resources and tips on creating three of the characters from the updated guides – Freya, Angrboda, and Thor.

Freya – Ibelinn Cosplay

Cosplay Credit: Ibelinn Cosplay | Photo Credit: Katrix_Media

Representing Freya is none other than Ibelinn Cosplay, who did an enchanting Witch of the Wilds back when God of War (2018) released. We’re thrilled to partner with her to create Freya’s updated design in God of War Ragnarök.

Ibelinn has put together an expert guide on how to plan a cosplay, along with her how-to videos on creating the former Valkyrie Queen – you can see them here.

Angrboda – Kizuki Cosplay

Cosplay Credit: Kizuki Cosplay

To embody the Giantess of Ironwood, we’ve partnered with the wonderful Kizuki Cosplay, who brings a wealth of experience crafting intricate and detailed designs.

Bringing her expert and versatile skills to the creation of her cosplay, Kizuki has created a guide on making a wig for Angrboda, as well as tips on how she approached the other pieces of the costume, which you can see here.

Thor – The Ronin Cosplay

Cosplay Credit: The Ronin Cosplay

To become the God of Thunder, we partnered with The Ronin Cosplay, who has been a longtime pillar of the God of War cosplay community. From Kratos to Sigrun, Ronin has taken on some of the most complex character designs in our games and made them look absolutely incredible.

Ronin has provided us with his expertise in creating the intricate leather pieces for Thor’s armor in his guide, as well as insights into his process with his tips video – check them outRead more

Today marks the apex of a long journey exploring the boundaries of what a strategy game can be. We are bringing our upcoming funky title Backbeat to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. When we started working on the first prototype in the spring of 2020, I knew there was a lot of potential in the project. It was our tiny indie studio’s second title, and we wanted to add some of the things that were cut from our first game, Hexagroove: Tactical DJ — an onboarding system to introduce our mechanics slowly over the course of the game, a story full of colorful characters, and an experience that feels as good as it sounds. Now refining our release candidate for launch this winter, I’m thrilled to have all those things possible on PlayStation.

Play Video

When we started designing the foundation for Backbeat, we wanted to carry over some principles from Hexagroove and introduce new ones as well. The game fuses the spatial challenges of a sokoban-style game along with the squad-based resource management of a stealth strategy title. Your challenge is to move a band of four characters through a series of isometric maps within a limited number of turns. How you spend those turns and which paths you choose affect a number of shared resources which grow and shrink over the course of the level. Each of the characters’ timelines are controlled separately but are interdependent. Opening doors and deflecting enemies must be done for the benefit of all four or they will preclude your squad’s successful strut to the stage.

To contrast with the synth-fueled EDM soundtrack of Hexagroove, Backbeat is built on a vast pool of live music riffs, improvisations, and solos recorded from the finest funk masters in Stockholm. Changing direction in the map, interacting with doors, or blowing enemies away with a mighty saxophone all enqueue unique audio clips which are played back together in sequence upon completing a level. This gives your unique solution its own personalized victory song.  Every strum, bang, and toot sounded so good I just had to find a way to help them shine extra bright.  After experimenting with the dev kit, I realized the PlayStation 5’s DualSense wireless controller was the perfect instrument to back up our studio musicians. 

I started by working with our composer Pete Fraser to bring a strong musical element to the most interactive parts of Backbeat: when you crash into something, warp through an oncoming car, manipulate time… I feel these brief moments of interaction, when you

Get ready – the DualSense Edge wireless controller is now available globally starting today. We’re excited for the PlayStation community to experience the all-new, highly customizable controller designed for players to create a personalized gaming experience that adapts to their playstyle. 

Built from the ground up for PS5, the DualSense Edge controller has many customization options available, including swappable stick caps and back buttons, L2/R2 stop sliders, button remapping, the ability to fine-tune stick sensitivity, stick dead zones, and trigger dead zones, and an on-controller user interface to seamlessly create and swap between custom profiles. 

When designing the controller, our team at PlayStation gathered insights from professional gamers and esports players to ensure the DualSense Edge controller is competition ready, incorporating features like a 2.8M (9.1FT) USB braided cable and connector housing that locks the cable to the controller, and a carrying case to store the controller and its components. Players can even charge their controller via USB connection while it’s stored in the carrying case.

For competitive gamers or players who just prefer a personalized controller experience, the DualSense Edge controller is designed to be customized from top to bottom to adapt to each player’s preferences and unique playstyle. For insights to help players get started, let’s dive into the custom profiles I’ve set up on my own DualSense Edge controller to play my favorite games.

As an FPS fan, my setup for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II focuses on precise aim, customized loadouts, and team communication:

• Changeable stick caps and stick sensitivity: I swap out my right stick cap with the High Dome stick cap and pair it with the Precise stick sensitivity preset curve for smoother, more precise aiming.
• L2/R2 stop sliders: I typically set the stop sliders on both the L2 and R2 buttons to the Short or Medium setting for quicker reaction to enemy encounters.
• Back buttons and button mapping: I’ve found it helpful for my own playstyle to map the back buttons to actions like jumping or swapping loadouts, so I can keep my thumbs on the sticks during tense moments. 
• Fn buttons: When communicating with my team, I often use the Fn buttons to adjust the audio balance between the game and chat, so I can alternate between callouts and listening for the enemy team’s movements.

When playing action titles like God of War Ragnarök, I adjust my custom profile to ensure that I have key moves at my fingertips:

• Adjustable stick sensitivity: The Quick preset curve is my preferred stick sensitivity setting for the left and right sticks for fast camera adjustments, movement, and aiming. Occasionally, I swap to a Dynamic preset curve while in-game for sequences where I need to aim carefully and also turn quickly. 
• Back buttons and button mapping: I swap to the Half Dome back buttons as they work well with how I typically grip the controller, allowing me to quickly dodge or recall my axe while simultaneously moving around the map and keeping an eye on enemies.

We’re now just one sleep away from the January 26 release of the first Marvel’s Midnight Sun’s DLC*. You’re likely already aware that “The Good, the Bad, and the Undead” adds Deadpool to the Midnight Suns roster of playable Marvel heroes**, but did you know that it also tells the story of how and why the Merc with a Mouth joined the team? Did you know that he employs a unique En Fuego resource on the battlefield, or that his food truck is parked right outside the Abbey? Read on for more details!

Deadpool has his own Story missions

Deadpool joins the Midnight Suns after crossing paths with the Hunter (and Hydra forces, and vampyres, and Red Skull’s granddaughter Sin) while attempting to stealthily liberate an artifact from the NYC Museum of Art. The story of this botched burglary and subsequent confrontations with vampiric enemies plays out across a series of new missions in which Deadpool, fully aware that he’s appearing in a video game, takes things considerably less seriously than his new allies.

“You should expect Deadpool to regularly break the fourth wall, both in and out of combat,” shares Creative Director Jake Solomon. “It’s like playing the game with a mouthy but lovable friend.”

It’s worth noting that while Deadpool’s storyline is separate from the main campaign, you can include him when assembling a team for any mission once he joins the hero roster. And you should, not only because his wisecracks are brilliantly voiced by Nolan North, but also because…

Deadpool can deal SO much damage!

Deadpool’s unique En Fuego resource has the potential to make him increasingly powerful as a mission progresses. Many of his ability cards incorporate the En Fuego keyword and, providing he has at least one stack of En Fuego, these cards are more powerful and/or have additional effects when played.

“If you can maximize Deadpool’s En Fuego bonus, he becomes a ‘one man Delete key’ for enemies,” says Jake. “Watch him draw an absurd amount of cards, shoot five enemies, and then absolutely destroy the biggest, baddest enemy on the map. All in one turn.”

Deadpool’s En Fuego meter is fueled by KOing enemies using his ability cards, granting him an additional stack of En Fuego after earning a number of KOs. However, Deadpool will lose a stack of En Fuego anytime he takes damage. So, while Deadpool’s innate ability to self-heal a percentage of his health each turn means he doesn’t require a babysitter, teaming up with a tanky hero like Captain Marvel or Captain America who can Taunt enemies away from him helps to maximize his damage output.

Eating at Deadpool’s food truck helps you stay Regular alive

When Deadpool joins the Midnight Suns, the team’s secret Abbey base is upgraded to accommodate his flashy Food Truck in a spot by the pool. Emblazoned with a colorful picture of the man himself astride a bearded unicorn, the truck advertises the “World’s Best Turduckens” but actually delivers something far more useful, if not quite as tasty.

“With Deadpool’s Food Truck upgrade you can di

Hello Mayors! Henning Sundell and Leon Andersson from Fast Travel Games here with a site analysis for the upcoming launch of Cities: VR – Enhanced Edition. Get ready to plan, build, manage, and enjoy the city of your utopian and dystopian dreams as the all-seeing mayor both from on high and down amongst your citizens. We’re super excited to be able to provide the first ever city simulation experience coming to the PlayStation VR2.

We’ll have a wide selection of areas available for you to start your new city. Some of you might already be familiar with a couple of areas brought over from Cities: Skylines, but there’s been some new ones added to the market as well. And with the added power of the PS VR2 we’ve made sure you’ll be able to expand even further out from that initial area to build the metropolis of your dreams! As it stands each site will contain 25 possible tiles to use, and your city planning permit will allow you to purchase up to nine (9) of those to build on.

So choose a site and start building your city. We’ll start off small with some low-density zoning and simple roads but as things expand you’ll have to start providing more…

Services

Services will unlock as you progress through the city milestones – ensure your citizens have access to these new services to provide them the best opportunity to live and prosper in your city! Prevent fires with your fire brigades, keep your citizens safe through your law enforcement, and care for the sick with your superb healthcare.

Just make sure they can get to where they need to go using the…

Advanced road simulation

With a wide range of road types ranging from gravel filled country roads to six-lane highways, control traffic lights, junctions, and round-abouts to make the flow of traffic as smooth as possible, ensuring that you use the right road for the right job so everyone can get to where they need to go.

And when rush hour hits make sure you’ve provided plenty of…

Public transport

Bus lines, ferries, above- and underground metro, there’s a variety of options to transport your citizens to, from, and around your cities! Help lighten the congestion of traffic on your road network as more and more people move in to your new…

Zones

From low density suburbs to the towering skyscrapers of high density areas, zones will be your primary way of providing housing, workplaces, and commercial shops for your citizens to live, earn, and spend money in your city. Watch th

What types of explosive expression can one expect from a creator who is relentlessly driven to break away from the mediocre and mundane? We decided to ask video game designer and digital artist TJ Hughes, who creates under the alias Terrifying Jellyfish, about working on the aesthetically ascendant adventure Nour: Play with Your Food.

In this profile, we speak with TJ Hughes about Nour, how he works with his team, his origin story, and advice he’d give to developers hoping to leave their mark in gaming. Hughes’ first project Feesh, which featured microscopic arcade gameplay and vibrant visuals, showcased TJ’s drive to break the mold in a work space equally microscopic, as it was conceived and completed within a 48-hour Ludum Dare game jam. With no tight time constraints he is magnifying color and playfulness with his sophomore project, Nour: Play with Your Food.

PlayStation Blog: What inspired Nour: Play with Your Food?

Nour is described as “an experimental food art game designed to make you hungry,” giving players a space to play with their food like a kid but without any mess to clean up. A further testament to the difference in working on Nour and Feesh, Nour’s development process was slow and methodical, with no one “eureka moment.”

“I was learning how to make shaders, and was brainstorming the best subject to try and emulate,” Hughes explains. “I was just starting to travel and eat more diverse foods, so I thought it was the perfect subject. I started to upload my art tests onto Twitter, where folks would tell me how the images made them hungry. Being intrigued by that response, I started to try more things like using the tech art concept of sub-surface scattering to simulate the material of noodles and using depth blending to mimic the murkiness of milk tea. I started to develop a library of tech art tricks to make something look appetizing.”

Hughes chose a physics-based experience as it “provides a sandbox to be as chaotic and ridiculous” as a player wants without the wasted food or mess.”

“When presented with a physics-based game, we often have one of two goals: Arrange things as neatly as possible, or make as big of a mess as we can. I think the best physics games should allow you to do both!”

The Nour team

As a leader, how do you motivate and encourage your team?

“It helps to have a team that shares so many of the same interests and fascinations,” Hughes says. “It makes relating to each other and getting on the same page about designs so easy. A lot of us are friends before coworkers as well, we bring a lot of that trust into the project. Anyone on the team can suggest anything, which creates an environment where even the most obtuse ideas are considered. We all love food as well, I noticed that before meetings, we’ll often end up telling each other what we’re eating/planning to cook, if the meeting isn’t in-person

With the PlayStation 5’s DualSense wireless controller, we at Motive are able to immerse players deeper into Isaac’s thrilling journey aboard the USG Ishimura. Across various events such as weapon shooting, asteroids impacting the ship, and Necromorphs attacking, haptic feedback lets players feel the impact as Isaac would.

Our goal with weapons was to give each a unique feel and sensation to make the experience of fighting Necromorphs even more engaging. Read on for some immersive examples of DualSense controller gameplay:

Plasma Cutter

You steady your plasma cutter and aim at the legs of a lunging Slasher. You place your finger on the DualSense controller trigger and push it past the required threshold to fire the weapon, feeling the weapon’s vibration shortly after. The DualSense controller trigger then pushes back up, re-initializing for your next shot.

The same kind of trigger effect is found on the flamethrower, but with a slight difference as you can feel a low vibration on the trigger as the ejected gas turns into flame.

Pulse Rifle

A Swollen begins lumbering towards you as you pull out your pulse rifle. To survive, you give it all you got, emptying your remaining bullets to defeat the approaching threat. While you hold down the DualSense trigger, you feel it buck with each round fired from the rifle.

Movement and ability haptics

When entering certain zero-gravity areas, the player can activate Isaac’s magnetic boots. Through haptic vibrations on the controller, the player will feel the impact of each step as the mag boots engage with the floor.

When players use Isaac’s Kinesis and Stasis modules, they’ll get similar real-time feedback through the controller through rich haptic vibrations.

Forspoken is finally available on PS5, and it’s time to show off your wicked cool magic-slinging combat skills to the world.  You’ll learn a lot of different magic types during Frey’s journey, but Purple Magic will be with you from the beginning and remains a great tool throughout the game. To help you get a leg up on your journey, let’s take a closer look at Frey’s combat-focused Purple Magic and what it can do.

Frey will start with the following attack magics: Burst Shot, Shield Shot, and Scatter Shot (each at level 1), along with the support magic Bind. To learn more spells, you’ll need to spend the mana points you accumulate from leveling up and by finding mana pools scattered across the massive landscapes of Athea. The order you learn spells is up to you, but if you think you made a mistake, don’t worry–you can always unlearn a spell to get a mana refund to use elsewhere. 

Now, let’s check out some Purple Magic spells and detail how to best use them:

Attack Magic

Burst Shot: A powerful and reliable way to attack, burst shot creates a huge rock explosion after you release its charge. The higher the spell’s rank and the longer the charge, the bigger the ka-boom that ensues. When enemy defenses are tough, give a charged Burst Shot a try–it can penetrate the defenses of enemies who flaunt shields at you with ease.

Shield Shot: Some enemies don’t respect Frey’s personal space. That’s where the shield shot comes in. If you’re charging Shield Shot and an enemy tries to attack you from the front, they’re in for a nasty surprise when you counter by blowing up the shield in their face. The shield grows bigger at higher levels and can also function to protect you from certain projectile attacks. Be careful, though, because you’re still vulnerable to side and back attacks and shield-breaking strikes.

Scatter Shot: Do you love powerful attacks but hate that whole “can’t attack while you’re charging” thing? Then you’ll appreciate the mechanics of Scatter Shot. Holding down the button will send out a rapid-fire spray of small magic blasts while you charge up to unleash a big finishing blow. The higher the spell level, the bigger the blast. Scatter Shot is excellent for long-range combat and especially effective on many flying enemies.