Articles by Samuel Tolbert

More blades, more blossoms, more blood.

Ghost of Tsushima was one of the swan songs of the PS4, a game where Sucker Punch Productions told the story of a lone samurai struggling with his identity while beating back the unending Mongol invaders. Now, with the Director’s Cut, the developers have packaged in a new expansion set on Iki Island. The PS5 version also has a handful of other upgrades befitting the more advanced hardware.

Interesingly enough, moving forward, the Director’s Cut is the only way to buy the game digitally if you’re a newcomer, while existing players can upgrade in order to access the new story and features at a reduced price.

Overall, Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut is a solid package, delivering improvements on the existing experience, while the new expansion offers new challenges even for the most seasoned players. This early on into the PS5’s lifecycle, it’s arguably one of the best PS5 games available. That said, the pricing strategy is a bit bold and wit…

Epic Games indicates that Google considering acquisition to stave off alternate storefronts.

What you need to know

Epic Games recently refiled a lawsuit against Google, alleging anticompetitive behavior.
Google lifted redacted portions of Epic Games’ complaint.
These redactions reveal that Epic Games claims Google was considering buying Epic Games to stave off the problem caused by alternate storefronts.

Google considered acquiring Epic Games, at least in part due to Fortnite’s plans to use alternate storefronts and sidestep Google Pay. This news comes via recently-unsealed court documents relevant to an amended lawsuit from Epic Games against Google. The filings give further detail on Google’s alleged anti-competitive practices, including working with OEM partners and sharing increased revenue in exchange for preventing any other storefronts from being pre-installed on any of the best Android Phones.

The controversy between both companies comes from Epic Games’ attempt to prov…

Weigh the options before buying something.

The PS5’s ultra-fast internal SSD allows developers to seriously reduce or even eliminate load times in the best PS5 games. With that in mind, expanding that storage can be extremely tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing. If you’re planning on upgrading your PS5 storage space, there are some things you need to be careful of. You need to properly research the SSD you’re using, making sure it meets multiple requirements. You’ll also have to understand how to install the drive.

You need to be careful when upgrading your PS5 SSD

If you’re not sure how to add an internal SSD to your PS5, we’ve got you covered. Before you even begin, it’s worth noting that the program is still in beta testing and isn’t widely available for most PS5 owners. If you want to upgrade your storage, you’ll need to sign up as a PS5 beta tester. There’s also no guarantee you’ll be selected at any point after registering.

If you are selected to beta test upcoming P…

No one likes encountering slow, unstable connections when playing on their PS5. If you’ve checked your router and everything seems fine, it might be your NAT. If you’ve got a Strict NAT type, it can block you off from connecting to many players online, which will increase search times for matches and make it more difficult to play with friends. Here’s how to change your NAT type on PS5.

How to change NAT type on PS5

First, you’ll want to check just what NAT type you actually have. If you’ve already got an Open NAT, chances are your problems aren’t related to the NAT. If you’re on Wi-Fi, try using one of the best Ethernet cables for PS5 for a hardwired connection instead. Now, here’s how you can check your NAT type:

How to check NAT type on PS5

Turn on your PS5.
Go to Settings.
Select Network.

Under Connection Status, select View Connection Status

Alternatively, you can select Test Internet Connection

Either way, you’ll be given your NAT information, alongside other useful…

It’s a mess right now, but it should get better.

After months of waiting for information, we finally have some news on PS5 storage capacity upgrades with an internal SSD. While Sony added the ability to use external hard drives for cold storage a few months ago, players were still limited to roughly 667GB of SSD space to run PS5 games. With many larger titles now averaging 50GB or above before patches, that space fills up quickly.

Now, while it’s not widely available yet, Sony has published the steps necessary for PS5 beta testers to upgrade their storage with a compatible M.2 drive. Well, kind of.

There’s a whole host of disclaimers, including the eyebrow-raising statement that just because an SSD meets the recommended speed and size requirements, there’s no guarantee it’ll work. Even if a drive works, if you install some of the best PS5 games to it, they might see degraded performance compared to being stored on the PS5’s internal ultra-fast SSD. At the end of the day, Sony’s PS…

Register for a chance to give feedback and test things out early.

New features and software updates can make your experience with consoles like the PS5 even smoother. If you want to check out some upcoming features ahead of time, such as PS5 SSD storage expansion or the ability to sort your Trophy list vertically, you can. By signing up to be a PS5 beta tester, if you’re selected, you’ll have the opportunity to try this stuff out weeks or even months before most users. Here’s how.

How to sign up to be a PS5 beta tester

Before you try to sign up, it’s important to note that your PSN account must meet the following requirements:

You must be at least 18 years old
You must be located in one of these countries: United States, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, France or Germany
You must have a valid PSN account “in good standing” with a current email address
You must submit complete and accurate feedback to Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) about your use of the beta software in the…

Your PS5’s ultra-fast SSD storage is great for quickly navigating across games, screenshots, video clips, and other media. Still, crashes are always a concern for any modern hardware. That’s where backups come in. By backing up your data, you can make sure your saved games, screenshots, and more are secure should the worst come. Here’s how to backup data and restore your PS5.

How to backup data and restore your PS5

Power up your PS5 and sign in.
Go to Settings.
Now, select System.

Select Back Up and Restore.

To backup your data, select Back Up Your PS5.
Insert your USB drive into the PS5.
Now, you’ll need to choose the type of data to back up. Make sure you have enough space on the USB drive.

Select Next.
You’ll be prompted to finalize your choice and begin the backup process.

Once the process has finished, remove the USB drive from the PS5.

That takes care of backing up your important data. Hopefully, your PS5 doesn’t run into any issues, but in the event it does, here…

The PS5 DualSense is easily the best controller Sony has ever designed, but maybe you want to change up the button placement. Whether it’s for accessibility purposes or just reworking how your favorite game plays on the best PS5 controllers, there’s a few different reasons why you’d want to remap the buttons, and fortunately, you can. Here’s how to remap buttons on a PS5 DualSense controller.

How to remap buttons on a PS5 DualSense controller

Turn on your PS5 and sign in on the profile you want to remap buttons for.
Go to **Settings*.

Select Accessibility.
Scroll down to Controllers.

Select Custom Button Assignments.

Then select Enable Custom Button Assignments.

Select a button on the controller to remap it.
Select Apply to finalize your choices.

That’s it! Remember, if you don’t like how the remapped buttons ended up working out, you can always come back and reset everything. Some popular options for remapping include swapping the Cross and Circle buttons or reversing…

Better than ever before.

One of the many exciting new features of the PS5 is the ability to play games at 120 FPS (frames-per-second). The advanced specs of the PS5 and the rise in capable displays mean that developers have the option of targeting 120 FPS in games if they so choose. We’ve rounded up all the games directly confirmed to at least feature a 120 FPS option in certain modes, which we’ll add to over time as more games are announced. Here’s the full list of PS5 games with 120 FPS support — that we’re aware of right now.

Jump to:

List of games with 120 FPS support
Why should I want 120 FPS?
What do I need?

List of PS5 games with 120 FPS support

Game
Resolution
Free upgrade
Upgrade release date

Borderlands 3
1080p
Yes
November 2020

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
1200p
No
November 13, 2020

Call of Duty: Warzone
~1512p
Yes
July 2021

Destiny 2
Dynamic 1440p
Yes
December 8, 2020

Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition…

With Sony having gone well past 30 choices for controller color options, both in standard releases and limited editions, it can be hard to keep track of what is still available out there. Even finding a basic white second-generation controller can be difficult as colors are starting to be discontinued now that the PS5 is available. Prices are also rapidly increasing and aren’t likely to come back down since the DualShock 4 has been replaced by the DualSense. Some of the limited edition controllers solely came in console bundles, making pre-owned your only option, that is, short of buying a new console. But we have you covered; these are all the DualShock 4 controllers you can still get your hands on.

★ Lovely limited

500 Million Limited Edition

The 500 Million Limited Edition PS4 controller was made to commemorate the sale of 500 million PlayStation consoles. This controller is quite possibly the most beautiful DualShock controller we will ever see. It features a deep transl…