Is the PlayStation Portal poised to revolutionize portable gaming like the Nintendo Switch? | Games

hAll those of Akki Monster Hunter Wild Week Week Celebration: Capcom's thrilling action game for sale 8m unit In 3 days, that means there's a good chance that many of you are playing it. I'm a huge fan of this series and am pleased with the latest entries, but after submitting a review last week I barely had the time to play it after it came out. Regular readers will know that this is a familiar problem to me. I have two kids so my game time is strict and the living room TV is used very often.

I was expecting this, so on the landing to the release of Monster Hunter Wild, I spent £200 on the PlayStation Portal. This is basically a screen sandwiched between two halves of a PlayStation 5 controller. It's impossible to tell if Sony is one of the most cumbersome things that have come out so far, or one of the most elegant ones. You can stream games from the PS5, so the console can scream under the TV, be on the sofa on a small screen, waving x to convert. A scary octopus.

Here's how the portal works: Turn it on and it becomes a pleasant, futuristic noise. When you try to connect to the home console, a soothing pulsating circular portal appears. Then, if it works (sometimes I have tried a few times), your PlayStation 5 homepage will be displayed through that portal and expand to fill the entire screen in your hands. You can then use the controller's rumble and tactile feedback and more to play everything like you do on a TV. When your internet connection becomes unstable, your device will downgrade the appearance of the game rather than launching you. Rather than force the game to reconnect with pixel soup, it becomes a strange messy visual artifact.

Monster Hunter Wilds looks perfect on the PS portal… when the device works. Photo: Capcom

I've played a lot of game streaming “solutions” over the years (at first GaikaiBack in 2009, we streamed games like World of Warcraft from the cloud, and at the time it was very novel and not always optimal. No matter how good your internet connection was, it has always been too much delayed. The streamed games always looked significantly worse. There was never wifi very It's reliable. However, the portal works surprisingly well in the wifi at my home. Monster Hunter looks perfect. It's a tough action game so lag feels like it's not playable right away, but I was able to play on the portal for hours without being too annoyed.

You can also use the portal to play PS5 games away from home and use your device to turn the console remotely in an empty house (tip: Yank to not turn on the TV before leaving the HDMI cable). I took the portal on a semi-annual holiday with my family – certainly more convenient than packing the entire console and all of its gubbins – and then tried connecting from my hotel room to my home's PlayStation 5. It took a few times, but did I also work on the hotel wifi. Unfortunately, in this situation, the quality of the streaming was very poor, and the game got worse on the PSP 15 years ago, making the delay seem unbearable. It wasn't the on-the-go PlayStation gaming experience I wanted.

The portal is a handy little gadget – at home, when it works. And that's the case for all kinds of internet-dependent game streaming: it's good When it works. One day, I want to be able to play games wherever I am, without sacrificing the quality of my game, but streaming technology hasn't gotten there yet. It's certainly getting better. I've streamed games from my Xbox Game Pass library from my Home Console Game Pass library and occasionally had problems. But what I really want is that I can stream games to the handheld when I'm in my office or while traveling.

The Nintendo Switch was released eight years ago, but it remains the gold standard for hybrid games at home/outdoors as it does not rely on an internet connection. It just works seamlessly. Pick it up, bring it in, put it in the dock, and it will appear on the TV right away. Switch changed my life by adjusting time for games with work, friends, travel and family. Steam decks are also transformative, allowing you to take games you review (or enjoy) from the office to the home, or play on long distance flights. We're used to this now almost ten years later, but it was really one of the most innovative technical things the console has achieved.

Until the Big Nintendo Switch 2 event becomes two events on April 2nd, we'll learn more about what this next console actually can do. Given that this is Nintendo, I would be surprised if internet-based game streaming was part of the new console offering. Nintendo tends to favor older, proven technology than risky bets. It's been eight years that Nintendo's competitors have completed alternative, neglected gaming solutions. Perhaps that's not possible. It's no wonder Switch 2 is stuck with what works.

What to do

Ambitious, gentle and stupid… split fiction Photo: Electronic Arts

The manufacturer of the cooperative divorce platformer unexpectedly sold 230,000 copies. This will work if publishers remember this safe betting age – Divided fiction It's an ambitious, kind and stupid game about two writers who are forced to live in each other's stories. Sci-fi writer Mio and fantasy writer Zoe will compete in a meeting at Big Publishing House. Just jail in a machine that steals futuristic ideas.

This game requires two players. This is because it completely relies on working together on both puzzles and action bits. (Don&#39t worry if there is a difference in skills between you and your future cooperative partner. One player can do most of the heavy lifts if necessary.) This was designed around cooperative play, whether this is full and playing with friends, partners, or older kids.

Available at: PC, Xbox, PlayStation 5
Estimated playtime:
15 hours

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Never Better Skate… Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4. Photo: Steam
  • Tony Hawk's Pro Skator I&#39m back again. The third and fourth entries in the series are Remastered by ActivisionAnd then I&#39m off in the summer.

  • Activision performed a bunch Scary AI-ART ads Last weekend, on Instagram for a game Please don&#39t actually exist. The ads link to a survey to a survey that is likely to measure interest in fake games, but instead everyone is talking about the band. Guitar Hero Mobile There are no four guitarists, singers, or phantom drummers.

  • Rockstar has I bought an Australian studio It is executed by Brendan McNamaradirector of the 2011 detective drama game La Noire, was also published by Rockstar. His previous studio, Team Bondi, was closed shortly after Rawar ended his past development. A toxic, oppressive, crunchy work culture Leading by McNamara.

  • Game Industry Analysts Matt Piscaterra Running the numbers, I discovered that 40% of all the time spent playing games in the US in January was spent playing The same 10 live service gamesMost of them are age. Draw a dark picture for developers who are about to break into this space.

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My favourites from the past… Arcadia Sky. Photo: Dean Mortlock/Super8 Media

There was something wrong with the answer in question block last week: Doug I wrote it saying it was a Nintendo switch I'll do it I now have the YouTube app, but fortunately he says that parental control is enough to stop my 11 and 8 year olds from constantly loading it again.

Thanks to readers for this week's questions Emily:

“Did you previously love the game that you didn&#39t enjoy playing today?”

I really had to think about this. We are sure

Source: www.theguardian.com

Federal police union advocates for creation of portal for reporting AI deepfake victimization

The federal police union is calling for the establishment of a dedicated portal where victims of AI deepfakes can report incidents to the police. They expressed concern over the pressure on police to quickly prosecute the first person charged last year for distributing deepfake images of women.

Attorney General Mark Dreyfus introduced legislation in June to criminalize the sharing of sexually explicit images created using artificial intelligence without consent. The Australian Federal Police Association (Afpa) supports this bill, citing challenges in enforcing current laws.

Afpa highlighted a specific case where a man was arrested for distributing deepfake images to schools and sports associations in Brisbane. They emphasized the complexities of investigating deepfakes, as identifying perpetrators and victims can be challenging.

Afpa raised concerns about the limitations of pursuing civil action against deepfake creators, citing the high costs and challenges in identifying the individuals responsible for distributing the images.

They also noted the difficulty in determining the origins of deepfake images and emphasized the need for law enforcement to have better resources and legislation to address this issue.

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The federal police union emphasized the need for better resources and legislation to address the challenges posed by deepfake technology, urging for an overhaul of reporting mechanisms and an educational campaign to raise awareness about this issue.

The committee is set to convene its first hearing on the proposed legislation in the coming week.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Gameboy: A Portal to Other Magical Realms at 35 Years Old

On April 21, 1989, Nintendo released a chunky gray gameplay rectangle for Japanese stores. It’s safe to say that no one expected much of it. Inside Nintendo’s Kyoto headquarters, the portable console was reportedly not a very popular project. However, within two weeks, the initial production run of 300,000 units had all been sold out. The Game Boy was released in the United States later that year, and would be released around the world over the next few years. We’ve found it to be equally popular wherever we go. Thirty-five years later and nearly 120 million units later, it remains the fourth best-selling gaming console of all time.

Like Sony’s Walkman, the Game Boy was an icon of technological design at the time, and is still instantly recognizable just by its silhouette. Developed by a team led by Satoru Okada and Gunpei Yokoi in Kyoto, the Game Boy was probably inspired by Yokoi’s dictum of “lateral thinking through dead technology” – do more with less, which continues at Nintendo to this day. This is an outstanding example of the technical principle of doing. It has a very simple design with four buttons and a cross-shaped D-pad, so it’s easy to use just by looking at it. Thanks to the grayscale screen, the battery lasted for several days of play. And, most importantly for the accident-prone kids of the ’90s (and their parents), you can throw this thing off a bridge and it’ll probably still work.

Gunpei Yokoi’s design principles made the Game Boy an international phenomenon. Photo: Associated Press

The Game Boy wasn’t the first handheld game console, nor was it the best game console at the time. Even in the late 80’s, it had a thick, retro feel. That screen didn’t have a backlight, but it was also sensitive to glare from bright sunlight, so I had to crawl across the screen to find the perfect amount of light (or use a large square I had to buy a portable lamp. more battery). Meanwhile, the Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear arrived soon after with much better hardware and color graphics.


But it was the Game Boy that was the bestseller, spawning direct and spiritual successors from the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance to the Nintendo DS and even its Switch. These are all consoles that you can hold in your hand. The reason is that, unlike its rivals, it had an extraordinary game whose vibrancy went beyond the scope of its small gray-green screen.

The most memorable of these is definitely Tetris. Tetris wasn’t made specifically for Nintendo’s small console – it’s been playable on computers since 1984 – but it turns out the Game Boy was made for Tetris. Alexey Pajitnov’s shape slot puzzle game has found its perfect home on this small console. Its rudimentary graphics abilities were sufficient to render some configurations of falling blocks. In the US and Europe, the Game Boy was bundled with the game. So when you think of Tetris’ Earworm theme song, the bleeppy 8-bit Game Boy version of him probably comes to mind.

Block Rocking Blocks: Tetris battles have become a holiday staple for many families. Photo: Boston Globe/Getty Images

You can even play Tetris with friends, as there’s a port on the side that lets you connect your console with a cable, the Game Boy’s most advanced feature. This is what inspired Satoshi Tajiri, a quiet programmer who had a childhood interest in insects, to create Pokemon, the Game Boy’s most enduring game. From pixels and pure imagination, Pokémon has created a world full of distinctive creatures that kids and adults alike can lose themselves in and swap and battle over Link’s cables. Despite being released towards the end of the Game Boy, it became a phenomenon.

How a geeky little game like this – Pokemon battles are primarily about numbers and type matchups – became the single most profitable entertainment franchise on the planet, surpassing Mickey Mouse and Star Wars. is incredible to me. This is a testament to the creative vision of the creator, as well as the imagination of his 90s children, who did not suffer from elementary expressions. But it also teaches us about the power and intimacy of handheld gaming consoles. With television, games were rooted in the living room or bedroom. On the Game Boy, it became part of family vacations, long car trips, and lunch breaks at work. Games have become part of everyday life.

This handheld console spawned many hit series. Photo: Nintendo

Perhaps this is what helps games like Super Mario Land and the heartbreaking, otherworldly The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening stay alive in the memories of those who play them. I remember we played Zelda on the commuter train. I met lifelong friends at my first job. After school, I got together with my friends at the playground and played Pokemon. On my day off, I played Tetris and had a high score competition with his older brother. Many people still have their Game Boys sitting in drawers or boxes in the attic. Their emotional value is so high that people can’t bring themselves to throw them away.

Here’s a favorite photo of four kids with bowl cuts from the ’90s crowd around women I was concentrating on my Game Boy. You can almost see the cartridge inside. It’s Super Mario Land. As far as I know, the origin of this photo is lost to time, but I’d like to think it’s her Game Boy, and she teaches the kids how to get past one of its more difficult levels. This image, for me, perfectly sums up this console and what it feels like to play it. Gameboys were shared by families and played by everyone, girls and boys, men and women. It was a portal to other small worlds and introduced millions of people to the magic of gaming.

Source: www.theguardian.com