Games in Time – PlayStation VR Gets a Price Cut

playstation vr

It’s your video game industry news update for March 29th, 2018 – Sony cuts the price of PlayStation VR to $299, PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold free games for April 2018, and Final Fantasy XV’s director sets up a new studio. The video game industry changes every day and your time is important. Let’s get you caught up, starting right now, on Games in Time!

HEADLINES

PlayStation VR Price Cut

PlayStation VR is getting a permanent price cut, effective now. The headset on its own will now have an MSRP of $299, down from $349. Bundles are getting deeper discounts, however. After a $100 price cut to end up at the same price as the headset at $299, the Doom VFR bundle includes the first-person shooter game, PlayStation VR headset, PlayStation camera, and demo disc 2.0. The Skyrim VR bundle also gets a $100 price cut, down to $349, all with the same PS VR tech, but adding two PlayStation Move controllers. This all matches the prices that Sony tested as temporary sales discounts in February.

If you ask me, if you’re wondering if now’s the time to jump on PlayStation VR, you should first note that you may find the Gran Turismo Sport bundle for cheaper, but it does not include the refined headset model that features an embedded audio jack and HDR passthrough. As far as a Version 2 of PS VR with updated tech specs, I would expect something like that to line up with the eventual PlayStation 5 announcement. Take that guess however you’d like, when it comes your future purchase timing decision.

PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold Games for April 2018

The April 2018 free games have been announced for PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold members. For PlayStation Plus, Avalanche’s open-world adaptation of Mad Max and the Ubisoft roller coaster driving game TrackMania Turbo will be available on PS4. PS3 players will have access to In Space We Brawl and Toy Home. 99 Vidas will be available on PlayStation Vita, while Q*Bert Rebooted is a cross-buy game for all platforms.

For Xbox Live Gold, Jonathan Blow’s puzzler The Witness will be available on Xbox One throughout all of April, while Assassin’s Creed Syndicate on Xbox One takes players to Victorian era London from April 16th to May 15th. On Xbox 360, the film adaptation of Cars 2 is available in the first half of April, while survival horror sequel Dead Space 2 can be accessed in the second half. All four games are playable on Xbox One, due to backwards compatibility.

Final Fantasy XV Director’s New Studio

Hajime Tabata, the director of Final Fantasy XV, has taken core members of that team to head up a new studio under Square-Enix called Luminous Productions. You may remember it was Square-Enix’s Luminous Engine that was first applied to the Agni’s Philosophy concept trailer back at E3 2012, before becoming the foundation to Final Fantasy XIV and XV. Luminous Studio plans to develop AAA games, with their first project announcement coming in the middle of this year, leading some to presume that means E3 2018. As to what this project could be, we will have to wait and see whether or not Tabata and his team will be working on an eventual Final Fantasy XVI.

QUICK HEADLINES

    • After one week, Sea of Thieves has hit 2 million players, making it the fastest-selling first-party new IP of this generation on Xbox One, according to Microsoft. It’s important to consider just how many of those titles Xbox One has had, though, in addition to the fact that it was not disclosed how many players are accessing the game via Xbox Game Pass.
    • Hello Games has announced that No Man’s Sky NEXT will be the biggest update ever to the 2016 space mining and exploration game. It will be free to existing players when it arrives this summer and it will also be the game’s debut on Xbox One.
    • Square-Enix has confirmed that Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age has a western release date of September 4th for its PS4 and PC versions. Nintendo fans have it rough, though, as the 3DS version that has already released in Japan will not be coming stateside and the Switch version will arrive “much later,” outside of 2018.
    • The much-rumored next game in the LEGO series will indeed be about The Incredibles, featuring the plots of the original movie and its upcoming sequel. The game launches in the U.S. on June 15th, which is the same day as the new film’s arrival in theaters.
    • In a new update that is rolling out soon, Pokémon GO players will be able to complete research quests to discover a storyline featuring the long-absent Professor Willow, as well as mythical creature Mew.
    • Nintendo Switch users are discovering after the 5.0 firmware update that the device is not USB-C compliant, as it overdraws current from some third-party docks and cables to fry the system. To avoid this, it is recommended to only use the official dock and cable that came with the system for charging.
    • And finally, here are your recent notable game releases:
      • Far Cry 5 is out now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC
      • MLB 18 The Show is out now on PS4
      • Batman: The Enemy Within – Episode 5 is out now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC

playstation vr

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Peter Spezia

Editor-in-Chief at Rhymes With Asia
Speaking into a microphone about nerd culture is a passion project for Peter Spezia, formerly known as SMYNYouko. Peter has been an Internet broadcaster since 2007, with past shows including Show Me Your News and WTF, Pokémon. His latest ventures include hosting The PowerSwitch - gaming's call-in talk radio show - and writing for RhymesWithAsia.com. A University of Michigan alum, Peter lives in the Great Lakes State with his wife Rachel as he works in video production for FCA US LLC. When he isn't keeping track of the latest video game industry news, Peter is either playing the guitar or staying fit.