Articles by Samuel Tolbert

Upgrades, people, upgrades are the way to go.

With the new generation of consoles arriving and the vast majority of PS4 games already backward compatible on the PS5, there’s a slate of games being released on both consoles at the same time. Some of these games support upgrades when you make the jump from PS4 to PS5, which can be paid, timed, or free. While there may be some additional steps depending on the title, the broad strokes will apply to every game. Here’s how to upgrade your PS4 games on PS5.

How to upgrade physical PS4 games on PS5

As a note, physical PS4 games can only be upgraded on the PS5, not the PS5 Digital Edition.

Sign in on your PS5.
Insert your PS4 game disc.
Go to the game hub for that PS4 game.
Select the upgrade offer for the PS4 game.
If it is a paid upgrade, pay the purchase price.
Download the PS5 Digital Game.

Now, the game is upgraded, but you’ll still need to insert the PS4 game disc each and every time you want to play it. The process for upgradin…

What is lurking in this prison?

What you need to know

The Callisto Protocol is a next-generation horror game being developed and published by Striking Distance Studios and Krafton.
The development team is led by Glen Schofield, co-creator of the Dead Space franchise.
There’s a new Red Band trailer that is gorier and more detailed than the debut trailer.

During the Game Awards 2020, one of the most exciting announcements for horror fans was The Callisto Protocol, a single-player, third-person horror game being developed by Striking Distance Studios. Now, there’s an extended Red Band trailer and as that would imply, it’s a lot more graphic, with results that wouldn’t be out of place in The Thing.

The Red Band trailer is only slightly extended but it gives us a horrifying idea of just how the monstrous creature is infecting others.

Led by Glen Schofield, co-creator of Dead Space, a 150-developer team is working on this game. Set in the year 2320, players are trying to escape …

Still trying to get one? Here’s another chance.

What you need to know

The PS5 is extremely difficult to find in stock right now.
A new batch of consoles are set to be available through Walmart at 3:00 p.m. ET.
If you want to grab one, you’ll need to act extremely quickly.

Scalpers and online bots are making it difficult to grab a console for the holidays. While there isn’t a real solution to this problem just yet, you’ll fortunately have another shot at grabbing a PS5 from Walmart today. As of 3:00 p.m. ET, additional PS5 units are set to be in stock. You’ll have to move fast with your information ready, because as we’ve seen since preorders were announced, the new consoles sell out extremely quickly

Next-gen

PlayStation 5

$499 at Walmart
$399 at Walmart (Digital Edition)

Get it fast while it’s in-stock

Walmart will have more in-stock at 3:00 p.m ET. Have your wallet information ready because as we’ve seen before, these can sell out within seconds (assuming the site doe…

Hell for the holidays.

What you need to know

Diablo 4 was first announced at BlizzCon 2019.
Blizzard Entertainment shared quarterly updates throughout 2020.
The December 2020 update details what to expect from item tiers and weapon types.
Diablo 4 does not currently have a release window.

Diablo 4 is still in early development in many respects, with the developers at Blizzard Entertainment giving in-depth quarterly updates throughout 2020, including details on the UI design, storytelling and skill trees. The December 2020 update is here and is focused on items, stats and weapon types.

Weapon types are meant to feel distinct, with one-handed weapons allowing fast attacks, as opposed to slower two-handed weapons dealing huge amounts of damage. This is a choice that every class will have to consider, with a Sorceress picking between a slower, more powerful stave or a quicker wand.

The team believes in color-coding tiers, so that if for example you see a glowing yellow item on the…

What is this strange cycle?

What you need to know

Returnal is a PS5 exclusive title being developed by Housemarque and published by Sony Worldwide Studios.
The game was previously revealed during a June 2020 event.
During the Game Awards 2020, a new trailer showed that Returnal is set to release on March 19, 2021.

First revealed back during Sony’s The Future of Gaming event in June 2020, Returnal is a new PS5 game from Housemarque in partnership with Sony Worldwide Studios. The game has players take on the role of an astronaut trapped on a hostile alien world, forced to keep dying and restarting in a timeloop of sorts.

During the Game Awards 2020, Sony revealed that Returnal is set to release on March 19, 2021. There’s also a new gameplay trailer showing the harsh environments and enemies of the game, which you can see below.

Housemarque previously worked on games like Resogun and Nex Machina, so it’ll be interesting to see how this ends up. The team further detailed how …

A long wait for other consoles.

What you need to know

Project Athia is a new IP being developed by Square Enix and Luminous Productions.
According to a new PlayStation marketing trailer, it’s console exclusive to PS5 for two years.
The game does not currently have a release date.

Project Athia is a new IP being developed by Square Enix for PS5 and PC. While there’s not a lot known about it, this epic fantasy title was announced back in June 2020 as a console exclusive at launch for PS5. Now, thanks to a new trailer showcasing known PS5 games, we have an idea of how long it will stay bound to Sony’s console.

Per this trailer, Project Athia is console exclusive to PS5 for at least two years. It will be available on PC the same day it comes to PS5. So if you’re playing on Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, you’re going to be waiting for a long time. You can see the full marketing trailer below.

Project Athia is being developed by Luminous Productions using the Luminous Engine th…

A round of promotions before the holidays.

What you need to know

Neil Druckmann was previously vice president of Naughty Dog.
Druckmann also directed games such as The Last of Us Part 2.
Now, Druckmann has been promoted to co-president of Naughty Dog.

In a studio update, Naughty Dog president Evan Wells announced today that The Last of Us Part 2 creative director and Naughty Dog vice president Neil Druckmann is now co-president of the studio. Additionally, Alison Mori and Christian Gyrling have been promoted to vice presidents of Naughty Dog.

Druckmann’s career with Naughty Dog began when he was working as a programmer on Jak 3, which release in 2004. Since then, he’s worked on several other titles before serving as a creative director on the widely-acclaimed The Last of Us. He also worked as creative director on Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.

Naughty Dog released The Last of Us Part 2 earlier this year to great commercial success, with over four million copies of the game in its…

Snake? Snake? Snaaaaaake!!!

What you need to know

A Metal Gear Solid film is being produced by Sony Pictures.
According to a report from Deadline, Oscar Isaac has been cast as Solid Snake.
Isaac previously stated that he’d want to portray Snake in a Metal Gear Solid film.

A report from Deadline today revealed that Oscar Isaac has been cast as Solid Snake in Sony’s Metal Gear Solid film. Isaac is well-known for his role as Poe Dameron in Star Wars Episodes 7 through 9, while he is also starring in the upcoming 2021 film Dune. Interestingly, Isaac previously expressed a desire to play portray Snake in a March 2019 interview, which you can see below.

Sony Pictures is producing the film, while Jordan Vogt-Roberts is currently the director. The original Metal Gear Solid is part of a long-running and fairly complicated franchise. The latest mainline entry that was directed by Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, released in 2015, though a survival spinoff titled Me…

Upgrades, people, upgrades are the way to go.

With the new generation of consoles arriving and the vast majority of PS4 games already backward compatible on the PS5, there’s a slate of games being released on both consoles at the same time. Some of these games support upgrades when you make the jump from PS4 to PS5, which can be paid, timed, or free. While there may be some additional steps depending on the title, the broad strokes will apply to every game. Here’s how to upgrade your PS4 games on PS5.

How to upgrade physical PS4 games on PS5

As a note, physical PS4 games can only be upgraded on the PS5, not the PS5 Digital Edition.

Sign in on your PS5.
Insert your PS4 game disc.
Go to the game hub for that PS4 game.
Select the upgrade offer for the PS4 game.
If it is a paid upgrade, pay the purchase price.
Download the PS5 Digital Game.

Now, the game is upgraded, but you’ll still need to insert the PS4 game disc each and every time you want to play it. The process for upgradin…

Get peace of mind and double-check.

With the new console generation, many games are being released on both PS4 and PS5. For those games that allow players to upgrade, free or paid, the save transfer situation for PlayStation is looking a little more complicated than we anticipated. While some titles allow players to carry over their progress, others such as Maneater and Yakuza: Like a Dragon do not. Mercifully, many of the best PS5 launch games support tranferring your progress.

Below, we’ve compiled a list of games that support save transfers from PS4 to PS5 that we’re absolutely certain of. To be very clear, the list of games is almost certainly longer than what we have here, we’re just only listing games with explicit confirmation and we’ll update this list whenever new information becomes available. All PS5 backward compatible games will allow you to transfer your save files.

Game
Free upgrade
Upgrade release date
Resolution
Framerate

Assassin’s Creed Valhal…