Gran Turismo players! The 1.29 update for Gran Turismo 7 arrives today February 20 at 10pm PST* / February 21 at 6am GMT / 3pm JST.

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PlayStation VR2 (PS5 only) for Gran Turismo 7 arrives

With the 1.29 update at no additional cost, players will be able to for the first time experience all the races and game modes (excluding ‘2P Split Screen’ mode) with a whole new level of realism. PS VR2 players will also be able to access an exclusive ‘VR Showroom’ area from their ‘Garage’ or the in-game car dealerships where they can admire all the stunning details of the ultra-high-definition car models in a variety of locations and lighting settings.

GT7 takes full advantage of PS VR2’s next-gen features – Utilizing specially optimized HDR tone mapping, as well as foveated rendering from the eye-tracking feature (a technology that renders areas of the screen that the player is directly looking at in high definition), and dynamic 3D audio support, players will experience a whole new dimension of highly immersive gameplay.

Take your Gran Turismo 7 experience to new heights with PS VR2 (launching February 22).

Experience Gran Turismo Sophy in Race Together mode (PS5 Only)

Gran Turismo Sophy is a revolutionary superhuman racing AI racing agent developed in a collaboration between Sony AI, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Polyphony Digital. “Gran Turismo Sophy Race Together” mode gives Gran Turismo players of all levels and abilities the opportunity to go head-to-head against GT Sophy in GT7. The special mode, available as a time-limited in-game event (From Feb 21 to end of March), is a first look at GT Sophy in GT7 and is designed to maximize the fun and excitement of racing against GT Sophy for everyone

I’m thrilled to share our new trailer for Zenith: The Last City, a massively multiplayer world built for VR. Zenith on PlayStation VR2 is an entirely new immersive experience. Stunning visual upgrades, juicy new hardware features like headset rumble, gaze tracking, and adaptive triggers. You might have a hard time taking off the headset!

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Let’s deep dive on the new PS VR2 features coming to Zenith on PS VR2 launch day February 22.

PS VR2 Features

Headset haptics

Feel the sensation of falling from great heights, taking heavy damage, and even the dizziness of critically low health. Dash, jump, and glide through the air, feeling the wind on your face. The quicker you move, the more intense the headset rumbles.

Eye tracking

Eye Tracking helps you stay focused in moment-to-moment gameplay. With PS VR2, there’s no need to stop and point your hand to focus on enemies like other platforms. Simply look at the enemy while clicking the joystick to lock on. This is especially handy during high-stakes battles like boss fights, allowing you to concentrate on your opponents even while moving quickly, gliding, or climbing.

Advanced PS VR2 Sense controller haptics

As a Blade Master, feel the power of your strikes and parries with intense haptics in the hand that lands the blow. As an Essence Mage, feel energy surge through your hands as you charge up your blasters. Outside the heat of battle, feel the wind gently passing by your head as you glide through the air.

Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com!

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Hey y’all! The team’s back and sharing news to use if you so choose about PS VR 2 ahead of its launch Feb 22.

Stuff We Talked About

• PS VR2
• Horizon Call of the Mountain
• Resident Evil Village VR
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Dead Space
• Season: a letter to the future
• The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me
• The Last of Us on HBO

The Cast

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Last week, we asked you share the love, by highlighting romance in the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s romantic shares:

Comput_ART shares Aloy making a heart with her hands in Horizon Forbidden West

ForgottenJasmin shares Cloud and Tifa embracing in Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Mur4dQ shares Cody and May from It Takes Two standing in front of a broken clock

_nvrheardofit shares Markus and North pressing palms together in Detroit: Become Human

skykiller1000 shares Ellie showing Dina her tattoo in The Last of Us Part II

CarrotsCaptures shares a set of Light Elf and Dark Elf lovers from God of War Ragnarök.

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: Horizon Forbidden West

SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on February 22, 2023

Next week, we head back to the future of Horizon Forbidden West to celebrate its one year anniversary. Share epic moments from Aloy’s adventure using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Jeff Minter is a well-respected video game developer who has developed a reputation for creating a brand of colorful, whimsical, irreverent and challenging games over his 40-plus year career. He is credited with more than 75 games, and we would not be surprised to find some unreleased gems hiding on his computer.

Jeff has been releasing games on PlayStation devices for a decade, including the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation VR, PlayStation 4, and with Akka Arrh now both PS4 and PS5. Akka Arrh drips with Jeff’s sense of humor, his love of psychedelic color and light, and his ability to flat-out create games that are a joy to play.

With the release of Akka Arrh, we had a chance to speak with Jeff and learn more about the new game.

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Q. Why Akka Arrh?

I’ve been interested in Akka Arrh ever since I first heard the story of this incredibly rare arcade game being held in secret for 30 years by a collector and how the ROM was “liberated” so everyone could have a go. 

When I got a chance to play the game I liked the abstract nature of it, the flower-like shape of the platforms. I also thought the level splitting between upstairs and downstairs was interesting, as was the lighting up of upstairs level sections to “electrify” the incoming enemies.  The original has some cool ideas, but it doesn’t quite fit together in a way that I found satisfying. So when Atari asked me which of their game IPs I was most interested in working with, I saw it as a chance to explore the ideas of the original and make them work.

Q. Despite the ROM controversy, Akka Arrh is still not a household name. How would you describe the new game?

The original felt to me almost like a real-time strategy game, so I’ve pushed a bit in that direction and made the levels almost like a series of puzzles. You can pretty easily blaze away with bombs and pass a level easily, but to rinse the most points out of it, you need to study the attack patterns and learn how to be efficient.

It’s almost like a cross between a shooter and a puzzle game. One friend described it as ’cerebral’ which is not something anyone would normally say about my shooty things.

Q. How did you approach the game design?

For me the design process isn’t something you do at the start and then code to a spec,

Drums Rock, the arcade game of playing drums while smashing demons to the rhythm of rock, offers its most complete edition (and the craziest news) as it arrives with the launch of PS VR2! From the team here at Garage51 Entertainment, we’re delighted to highlight what we’ve done with this technology, which you can try at home on February 22. Let’s rock!

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We had been developing Drums Rock for a few months when we received a PS VR2 dev kit. At that time we were refining gameplay and fighting record labels to get cool songs for the game. We set about testing the features of the PS VR2 headset and Sense controller.  

We’ve tried countless different VR headsets in the past, but with the PS VR2 headset we saw that things could be done here that nobody had done before. And that is exactly what we did. We wanted to take a risk and nail it. We opted to go overboard rather than be afraid to try all these new features, and now I think it was the best decision possible.

In case anyone hadn’t noticed, we’re huge fans of the music rhythm genre. Drums Rock is a tribute to everything we loved about the games that defined that genre. Maybe it’s just us, but didn’t you know part of the songs by heart and even played them without looking? I’m sure some madman has even played a guitar controller with his mouth like Jimi Hendrix. Well now, in Drums Rock, playing without looking scores double!

Eye tracking

After getting our hands on the PS VR2 development kit headset, eye tracking was the feature that surprised us most, to the extent we built a gameplay mechanic around it and set about fine tuning it so it felt really fun. Let me explain:

Below the streak marker there are two switches, one for each eye. These switches activate either when we have our eyes closed, or are not looking at the incoming notes lane. They have a small cooldown period so as to avoid being triggered by the player blinking or taking side glances to see the notes. Once the switches are activated, your score is multiplied x2. They can also be combined with no fail chain modifiers, reaching x8. It’s a risk-reward mechanic that I personally adore!

A wooden gate – somewhat past its prime – blocks your way. You begin to push through it, but it’s surprisingly sturdy. Feel the resistance as it fights against you before, inevitably giving way to your strength.

You pursue your prey, leaping over gnarled tree roots and rocks that litter the forest floor. It begins to outpace you, but suddenly you see a spring Karakuri, a sure sign that luck is on your side today. You leap onto it, feeling the vibrations (thanks to your DualSense controller) as if through your own feet, and make up valuable ground quickly.

Of course not all sensations you experience through Haptics will be strictly necessary for the hunt. You may find it both useful and soothing to take time to interact with the gentler wildlife throughout Azuma. Make a new friend (or two) with a gentle pat on the back.

As a hunter, you must be one with your chosen weapon. You must know its weight, its speed, t

At the end of light, there is darkness. And at the end of darkness is light. This conflict is what Lightfall–the penultimate expansion to Destiny 2’s epic Light and Darkness saga–is all about. It’s you and your fireteam standing against The Witness and Calus’s dark Shadow Legion. The stakes are everything, with the looming extinction of all life hanging in the balance. It’s the most monumental development to the six-year-old game, and the talented team at Bungie is making sure you feel the grandeur through the plot and an assortment of new gameplay additions.

During a recent preview event of the upcoming expansion, we got to see some of the first mission and a handful of the delightful new surprises coming for Destiny 2 players, both new and old. Below are some of the most exciting details we learned about Lightfall.

The beginning of the saga’s end

You’re going to carry that weight: Lightfall looks to be one of the most powerful and emotionally heavy stories in the Destiny universe. With you as its central character (known as a Guardian), the savior battling against the end of the world, it all falls on you. The increased focus and pressure on you as the story’s hero adds to the plot’s stakes, giving your actions a greater weight than in previous expansions.

The introduction of The Witness: The ultimate nemesis of Destiny 2’s Light and Darkness Saga,The Witness, is finally entering the physical frame, adding to the urgency of Lightfall. This entity is unlike any you’ve encountered thus far. In its quest for total control, The Witness will immediately show that it is the coldest, most calculated, and reserved foe that any Guardian has ever fought.

A beautiful new destination: Lightfall is showing the world of Destiny in a new light. The cyberpunk-esque city of Neomuna is one of the most visually stunning locations in the game’s history. The architecture takes a more aerodynamic approach in its design, and the team brought that philosophy into every aspect, incorporating elements such as surf-like fins and sailboat-like ships. It’s all complemented by the vibrant neon color scheme of the city to create a vivid new aesthetic for the Destiny universe.

Fresh characters enter the fray: You can’t hope to stop the end of the world on your own, so you’ll find yourself fighting alongside some new faces in Lightfall. There’s the world-weary veteran, Rohan, and the showboating rookie, Nimbus, two members of the Cloud Striders—defenders of Neomuna.