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Upcoming Playstation 4 Update To Help Clean Up The Clutter

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PlayStation 4 operating system’s next major update is now out in beta for those who signed up for the test back in January of this year.

The new firmware will implement a number of changes to the user interface along with a supersampling mode for Playstation 4 Pro that is geared towards those who don’t a have a TV to support the 4K resolution.

Playstation’s latest blog post lays out all of the details, bells and whistles that are being rolled out.

  • HDTV Supersampling for PS4 Pro. As reported back in January, those who have a PS4 Pro but not a 4K TV can still take advantage of games that render to higher resolution. With supersampling, they will downscale to match the capabilities of the connected HDTV (i.e. 1080p or less). Though not applicable to all games, it still allows PS4 Pro owners who haven’t upgraded their television to see an improvement to image clarity.
  • PS Plus tab: It may not seem like a lot, but a new tab in the user’s games library now sorts out which games have been acquired by the PlayStation Plus subscription. For those with a lapsed PS Plus subscription, the titles still appear, but carry an icon showing they are locked until the user re-subscribes.
  • Play-time management: This utility is geared more to parents, or players who can’t control their habit. Under the Family Management tab in the settings menu, users will be able to check and manage their play time or apply restrictions that limit daily gaming to a certain length of time. Play-time management may be changed and monitored from PlayStation’s web and mobile apps as well.
  • Hiding apps: This convenience allows the user to disappear certain apps they won’t be using again, reducing menu clutter; think betas, trials or other demos.
  • PlayStation Now background music: The PlayStation 4’s streaming subscription now accommodates music the same as other games played locally from the console.
  • Notifications: Another clutter-clearing feature, this finally lets users clear out old notifications, or recurring ones.
  • Custom wallpapers from a thumb drive: Believe it or not, this hasn’t been possible yet. Now it is. Users can put their own images on a USB stick and set it as a wallpaper. Zoom and crop options are available, too.
  • Library UI changes: A new tab called “This PS4” will show every application installed to the system, and then a tab with the user’s name and avatar will show all of the games and applications they have acquired from PlayStation Network — again, to help users better manage and understand their application libraries.

Sony did not specify when the full release of firmware 5.50 would roll out to everyone.

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Patreon Hires Twitch’s Adiya Taylor as New Corporate Communications Lead

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Content creation platform Patreon has officially tabbed Adiya Taylor as their new corporate communications lead, effective in February, according to an official announcement.

Taylor worked for Amazon’s video game streaming platform Twitch for three years in a variety of roles, most recently serving as the company’s senior monetization communications manager prior to her departure.

Taylor’s hiring comes after Patreon brought on Brielle Villablanca as Vice President of communications and creator advocacy back in November 2023.

“I’m thrilled to begin crafting and implementing a communications strategy around policy, trust and safety, product and more,” Taylor said during an official post on the networking platform LinkedIn, adding that she believes Patreon is a “true advocate” for creators.

“I’m looking forward to more storytelling around how we’re fostering fandom so that creators own long-lasting businesses built around their artistry,” Taylor added.

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Microsoft Bringing Four Games to Rival Consoles

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Microsoft has responded to recent reports that there will be changes to it’s first-party strategy and has confirmed that four game titles will be released on rival consoles.

More specifically, Xbox head Phil Spencer said that ‘Starfield’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ will not be among the four titles heading to other platforms. Both games had a number of candidate platforms, per reports, adding that this is “not a change to our fundamental exclusive strategy.”

“We don’t damage Xbox and we can grow our business using what other platforms have to help us with that,” Spencer said, according to GamesIndustry.biz.  “Looking forward, I think there is an interesting story for us of introducing Xbox franchises to players on other platforms to get them more interested in Xbox. We think there’s a good brand value for Xbox there.”

Xbox president Sarah Bond announced that Activision Blizzard games would begin to be added into Game Pass offerings, starting with Diablo 4, which will be added on March 28th.

Additionally, Bond said that Microsoft is still working on hardware for the future and that their focus regarding the future is “delivering the largest technical leap you will ever have seen in a hardware generation.”

 

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Sega’s Revenue See Rise to $27 Billion

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Sega Sammy has released its financial report for the nine-month period that officially concluded on December 31st, 2023, and that report that demonstrated a rise in overall sales and profit despite a decrease in sales for Sega’s new titles.

That decline was offset by growth in pachislot and pachinko machines, however Sega had lowered its sales forecasts for the full financial year.

Here is a breakdown, courtesy of GamesIndustry.biz.

  • Net sales: ¥349.9 billion ($2.3 billion, up 28.7% year-on-year)
  • Operating income: ¥54.4 billion ($364 million, up 42.4% year-on-year)
  • Ordinary income: ¥57.2 billion ($383 million, up 42.7% year-on-year)
  • Net sales were up 130.3% to ¥120.2 billion ($805 million) in this segment
  • Ordinary income increased by 521.3% at ¥45.7 billion ($306 million).
  • Entertainment Contents segment, which includes video games, net sales were up 4.2% at ¥219.3 billion
  • Profit decreased by 52.5% to ¥19.7 billion ($131.8 million) as a result of weak game sales

You can read a breakdown of the entire report at GamesIndustry.biz here.

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