Hello, and welcome to this month's extremely late edition of the VSM. This month we'll include all the usual stuff like console and game sales as well and upcoming releases for all current PlayStation systems, as well as offering a list of the most promising games at E3 (from my perspective), giving a product review of Batman Arkham Knight, and more. So rather than blabbering on some more, let's get started.


Console War Coverage*

Please note that this article is now reporting a month behind, as the statistics are more accurate this way. Keeping up to date statistics was throwing the numbers off by as much as 40,000 per system at times, so it was decided to back up for accuracy sake. My apologies for any inconvenience.

April 26th - May 2nd

PS4 - 159,383 (-8%)
XBox One - 78,276 ( -6%)
Wii U - 45,565 (+45%)

The PS4 leads the way in new gen systems despite an eight percent drop in weekly sales, moving 80,000 more units than XBox One, while the One moves 30,000+ more than the Wii U despite the Wii U's very impressive jump of forty five percent in weekly sales.


PS3 - 23,246 (-8%)
XBox 360 - 11,568 ( -18%)
Wii - 1,187 (-10%)

PS Vita - 41,513 (+6%)

Meanwhile the PS3 leads in last gen sales by more than 100%, and the 360 leads the Wii by roughly 1,000%.

And then there's the PS Vita. Finally starting to be received as it deserves, the Vita climbs up an additional six percent.


May 3rd - 9th

PS4 - 150,384 (-6%)
XBox One - 64,307 (-18%)
Wii U - 30,895 (
-32%)

PS3 - 22,241 (-4%)
XBox 360 - 11,144 (-
4%)
Wii - 1,071 (-10%)

PS Vita - 43,218 (
+4%)

The PS4 drops six percent more yet leads by roughly 86,000 this week, while XBox One leads the Wii U by just under 34,000, and the Wii U drops thirty two percent, which is not as bad as it sounds given it's forty five percent jump last week.

The PS3 maintains it's 100% gap lead over the 360, while the 360 also maintains it's lead over the Wii.

And the PlayStation Vita rises another four percent in it's sales this week. I think it's safe to dismiss the rumors that the Vita is a forgotten and dying handheld. Hopefully Sony is taking note as well.


May 10th - 16th

PS4 - 137,774 (-8%)
XBox One - 60,364 (-6%)
Wii U - 26,242 (-15%)

PS3 - 20,751 (-7%)
XBox 360 - 11,334 (+2%)
Wii 1,149 (+7%)

PS Vita - 37,593 (-13%)

The PS4 leads the pack with a comfortable 77,000+ lead over it's top rival, whereas the One leads the Wii U by over 34,000, and the Wii U drops another seven percent putting it back into it's average sales before it's spike two weeks prior.

The PS3 leads the way in last gen sales with over 9,000 more units sold than the 360, which climbs two percent in sales and continues to lead the Wii by just over 10,000.


May 17th - 23rd

PS4 - 173,379 (+26%)
XBox One - 71,888 (+19%)
Wii U - 26,651 (+2%)

PS3 - 20,368 (-2%)
XBox 360 - 11,080 (-2%)
Wii - 1,249(+9%)

PS Vita - 36,089 (-4%)

The PS4 finishes this month of coverage in the lead by just under 102,000 sales and sporting a nice twenty six percent jump in weekly sales, while the XBox One jumps nineteen percent in weekly sales and leads the Wii U by roughly 45,000 sales.

The PS3 finishes out this month leading last gen sales by 9,200+, while the 360 leads the Wii by over 8,000, and the Wii climbs nine percent in sales.

The Vita closes out the month with a drop of four percent.


*sales totals do not include used systems


Software Sales*

April 26th - May 2nd

PS4 - 792,541 (-17%)
XBox One - 435,552 (+3%)
Wii U - 367,744 (+104%)

PS3 - 637,876 (-7%)
XBox 360 - 481,390 (-1%)
Wii - 283,918 (+42%)

PS Vita - 182,656 (
+22%)

PS4 software sales drop by seventeen percent on the week but it manages to maintain the lead in new gen game sales by over 350,000, while the XBox One gains three percent in weekly game sales and leads the Wii U by more than 60,000, and the Wii U takes a monstrous leap 104 percent in game sales this week. The game mostly responsible for this was Dragon Quest X: Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku Online.

Meanwhile the PS3 leads last gen systems in game sales by more than 56,000, and the the XBox 360 leads the Wii by over 198,000.

The PS Vita sees another up week in software sales, moving twenty two percent more games than the previous week.


May 3rd - 9th

PS4 - 835,292 (+5%)
XBox One - 403,162 (-7%)
Wii U 206,227 (-44%)

PS3 - 632,537 (-1%)
X360 - 476,705 (-1%)
Wii 205,734 (-28%)

PSV - 154,228 (-16%)

The PS4 moves more games this month than any new gen console, with an increase of five percent putting it at 432,000 more than the XBox One, while the One outsells the Wii U in games by roughly 197,000.

The PS3 leads in last gen game sales by over 150,000 sales, whereas the 360 leads the Wii by 270,000.

The PS Vita drops sixteen percent this week.


May 10th - 16th

PS4 - 826,901 (-1%)
XBox One - 366,509 (-9%)
Wii U - 178,264 (-14%)

PS3 - 596,241 (-6%)
XBox 360 - 478,106 (0%)
Wii - 203,502 (-1%)

PS Vita - 128,178 (-17%)

This week the PS4 leads with 460,000+ sales over second place, and the XBox One leads the Wii U again, this time by nearly 190,000.

The PS3 leads last gen by 118,000, and the 360 leads the Wii by nearly 275,000.

The Vita drops another seventeen percent this week.


May 17th - 23rd

PS4 - 1,903,586 (+130%)
XBox One - 739,694 (+102%)
Wii U - 177,031 (-1%)

PS3 - 761,517 (+28%)
XBox 360 - 578,313 (+21%)
Wii - 228,765 (+12%)

PS Vita - 166,943 (+30%)

The PS4 ends this month with a bang, having an explosive week it jumps an incredible 130 percent, and leads it's top competitor by just under 1.2 million, while the One makes a huge jump as well, this time increasing by 102 percent on the week, and leads the Wii U by 560,000.

All last gen systems end on an up note this week with the PS3 seeing the biggest jump and leading by more than 180,000, while the 360 leads the Wii by just under 550,000.

The PlayStation Vita sees a thirty percent increase this week, ending the slight drought of the previous two weeks. All in all it was another good month for the handheld.


*sales totals do not include used games


Upcoming PS3 Games

July 14th
Godzilla
Screenshots:
Screenshot One
Screenshot Two


Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess
(NOTE: My sources had clashing release date information for this game, so it may not come out on the fourteenth, but it should be out this month at the very least)


July 28th
Lost Dimension
Screenshots:



July 28th
King's Quest Episode 1: A Knight to Remember
Screenshots:
Screenshot One
Screenshot Two


The Swindle
Screenshots:
Screenshot One






Upcoming PS4 Games

July 7th
Pneuma: Breath of Life
Screenshots:
Screenshot One
Screenshot Two


Rocket League

Skullgirls 2nd Encore 

July 14th
Rory Mcilroy PGA Tour
Screenshots:
Screenshot One
Screenshot Two

God of War III Remastered

Godzilla
Screenshots:
See Godzilla under upcoming PS3 games.

Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess

The Fall

Trials Fusion: Awesome Level Max Expansion

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Screenshots:
Screenshot One
Screenshot Two


July 21st
F1 2015
Screenshots:
Screenshot One


Hatoful Boyfriend

Journey
Screenshots:
Screenshot One
Screenshot Two

Onechanbara Z2: Chaos

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

Zombie Army Trilogy

July 23rd
Capsule Force
Screenshots:



July 28th
King's Quest Episode 1: A Knight to Remember
Screenshots:
See King's Quest Episode 1: A Knight to Remember under Upcoming PS3 Games.

The Swindle
Screenshots:
See The Swindle under Upcoming PS3 Games


Upcoming PS Vita Games

July 2nd
Ar Nosurge Plus: Ode to an Unborn Star 

July 7th
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved
Screenshots:
Screenshot One
Screenshot Two

NekoBuro CatsBlock 

July 14th
Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess

July 21st
Hatoful Boyfriend


July 28th
Lost Dimension
Screenshots:
See Lost Dimension under Upcoming PS3 Games.

The Swindle
Screenshots:
See The Swindle under Upcoming PS3 Games.


E3 Followup

I promised an E3 followup last month, but that was handled in an another article that I made titled E3 In A Nutshell, so I'll refrain from repeating myself. Instead I'll simply touch on the outcome of my predictions and games to watch for.

The Great Eirinn's crystal ball was...wrong
Guess that'll teach me to shop for these things at "Dave's Discount Divinery" or other stores with an odd affinity for alliteration an cheap pricing. What a waste of five bucks.

So my 1TB PS4 showcasing prediction was off, but at least it was announced by Sony the day afterward. Still, no points for me.

Next my Slim model prediction was off. Starting off 0-2...it's looking bad this year. Who thinks I won't brag nearly as much about my E3 predictions this year?

PS4 Price Reduction announcement?
0-3

But wait! Morpheus launch "date" was correct! Finally a win!
1-3... Never thought I'd be rejoicing over that.

No less than four first party titles...fail.
1-4
Can we forget those predictions ever happened? Yeah, I didn't think so.


As for my take on the rumors... I fared much better.
New Ratchet and Clank I was neutral on.

0-0-1

New PlayStation shows. I said no, albeit barely as I put it at 40% and only because I didn't want another undecided vote.

1-0-1

GT7. This one I rated 40% as well, but definitely did not expect. A much needed win.

2-0-1

Games For Morpheus. A shoo in since Sony announced it, but I'll take it.

3-0-1

Two new PS4 models. I bought in for whatever reason.

3-1-1
A combined 4-5-1 record.

Well that was horrible. Here's to hoping for redemption in 2016.


Games to watch for
This list will cover games that I felt looked promising, not games that I necessarily think will sell well.

-No Man's Sky. If I have not gotten through to any of you over the past year, let me be clear: I WANT THIS GAME. And I suggest picking it up as soon as it releases. This is easily one of my top recommendations.

-Horizon: Zero Dawn. This game looked incredible as well but for vastly different reasons. See my E3 article linked earlier in this section to find my ramblings about why this could be an easy preorder.

-For Honor. Another easy pick, see my E3 article for an in depth explanation.

-Everybody's Gone To The Rapture. Again, see the E3 In A Nutshell Thread and scroll toward the bottom.

-Rocket League. E3 article again. I promise I'm not just trying to promote my thread.

-Star Wars Battlefront. This one is a bit iffy for me, but it looked fun despite being outside of my usual gameplay preferences. It could be worth a look.

Other games I'll personally keep an eye on to see how they turn out are:

The Swindle
Salt and Sanctuary
Ratchet and Clank
Rainbow Six: Siege
Kingdom Hearts 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5

So all in all, a very good E3.



PlayStation Product Review

So here it is, the section of the VSM that I promised I would add several months ago. In this section I'll offer brief reviews of games, systems, and other products available to the PlayStation gamer.
This month we'll be looking at two products: Batman Arkham Knight and the PlayStation 4 itself.

PS4
So as I've already said elsewhere, all of the naysayers about the new generation of consoles have either never tried playing on a PS4, got a bad game, or just plain made things up to gripe about because yes people do that. If you don't believe someone would do that, look up your favorite game on metacritic and check out the users that rated it a 0/10 (because a 0/10 is apparently a thing), trust me they'll almost certainly be there. "I rate this a 0/10 because I don't like the color of the protagonist's hat!" Well that's funny, he doesn't even wear a hat...

Perhaps you've been torn on making the move to PS4, maybe you're wondering if the system is really much of an upgrade from your PS3 or XBox 360. Trust me, while I may have had little time with the last generation of game consoles, even I can tell you that it is a big enough improvement to justify the switch.


But why is it with it?
Man, I ask some good questions. Fortunately I know the answers because I am great according to Sony.

First things first: the Dualshock 4 makes a huge difference. You wouldn't think a lightbar, speaker, and touchpad would offer much, but it really does enhance the gameplay.

The lightbar doesn't do much for most games, aside from just plain looking cool, but it offers some real functionality for owners of a PlayStation Camera, including automatic detection of which player is seated where (handy for divvying up the split screen action appropriately), as well as allowing for special tracking features. Oh and did I mention looking cool?

The motion sensors are nothing new to PlayStation as it was an integral part of the PS3 controller (and the Wii was special because why Nintendo? Heard of Eye Toy on PS2, or the Sixaxis/DS3? Now to brace for the flames...just kidding...I hope), but if you're wondering, it returned for a second round with the DS4.

Then there's the touchpad: a feature I personally rebelled against when I first heard of it. "How could you do something so stupid?" I wanted to email Sony so badly, but I refrained. And upon using the thing (though I've yet to play a game that actually utilizes the touch technology, I have one that uses the click portion of the pad's tech) I realized how handy this thing was. Integrated properly, this touchpad is genius. And at the very least it offers an additional button or two.

Then there's the redesigned buttons. Had you told me Sony messed with the buttons AND sticks on my beloved Dualshock, I would have been outraged. However I didn't know the buttons had been messed with until I unboxed my PS4. Upon use I found the changes to the bottom shoulder buttons (L2 and R2) were actually a vast improvement over the classic Dualshock's shoulder buttons. They feel more comfortable and --odd as this may sound-- intuitive. In fact I actually find myself keeping a finger on all four shoulder buttons at all times, whereas I never found that to be comfortable with the previous Dualshocks or even my limited (one round of football) experience with an XBox controller and XBox knockoff third party PS3 controller, and so always used one finger for both shoulder buttons on either side. A very welcome improvement to a feature that I had no idea needed any improvement to begin with.

The sticks: I thought people were exaggerating, but the control sticks on the DS4 are quite an improvement as well. Again, a feature I never felt needed improvement has been improved and I'm grateful for it. It's much easier to keep your fingers from slipping on these sticks during a high speed chase, a desperate run for your life, or a simple race. The control is greatly boosted here as well.

Finally the speaker. Oh I love the speaker on the DS4. At first I was disappointed to find that only select portions of the audio plays through the speaker's controller, as I had expected it to function as a second (or I guess third) speaker entirely. However as I began hearing the way this added to the effect of the audio, I began finding that it added to the immersion. A game that uses it perfectly is Knack (not a bad game despite what you may hear): Knack plays only the sounds of relics/shards/etc. being picked up, and so actually makes it sound like the pieces are coming to you not some character on a screen. It truly adds a layer of immersion, and is a welcome feature on the DS4.

Other notable features include the headphone jack which is extremely useful, especially for piping game audio through in a quiet setting, and the face button changes (loving the share button).


The actual system has a vastly improved UI I feel, as well as more functionality (including voice command), and just an overall better design.

The end result of all of the many changes is that the PS4 is a vast improvement on an already great system.


Next Up: Arkham Knight
Can I just say this game is amazing and leave it at that? Because everything I can say about it will simply end up that way anyway.

I won't even attempt a full blown game review here, but suffice to say that this game has set the bar incredibly high for new gen game standards.

Graphics are top notch. Everything g is incredibly realistic looking, smooth, and just a beautiful sight (barring one of Dent's two faces which isn't so beautiful). I literally cannot find anything to say against this game visually. It's that high fidelity.

The sound is equally perfect. From hearing chatter among the thugs in the streets, to the spot on voice acting, to the haunting sounds that pierce through the tense battle with the Knight. The only issue I could possibly lodge is that the chatter eventually begins repeating itself, but that doesn't really detract from the game any unless you're trying to find something to bother you.

The story...oh gosh this story is equal parts engaging, moving (I nearly cried near the start and actually felt Batman's loss during one hard to watch scene), and disturbing. As I told a friend, this game will mess with your head so badly, but in the best way possible. You'll begin to question your own eyes, and wonder what --if anything-- is real. I would love to divulge more of what happens here, but I don't want to risk spoiling the story. Just be prepared to explore the depths of mental anguish and some psychological horrors before it's said and done. This story is brilliant.

The gameplay is the only thing that could challenge the story. There's a great leveling system, and tons of gadgets to play with. Before it's all said and done, you'll be sabotaging weapons from afar, playing with enemy troops heads, diffusing bombs, spraying explosive gel on walls, computers, and more, tracking vehicles, hacking enemy computers and vehicles, and finding new and inventive ways to strike enemies from above or below.
But be warned: your for is smart. As one man said, it feels like you're playing against a living, thinking person, not a programmed AI. They can tell if a downed comrade was taken down from an attack from above or below, revive one another, read and adapt to your strategies, and more. You will have to adapt as well if you wish to survive.
But that's not all: there are well over 300 side objectives for you to pursue, plenty of optional side stories to follow, a decent number of characters to play as, and an insanely fun Batmobile/tank to drive.

Length: I've easily put forty to fifty hours into it, and till have roughly twenty to thirty percent left overall, plus many other side things to do for fun (like interrogate Riddler's men), and over 200 side challenges to complete. Then after the game ends, there's an unlocked bonus which I won't spoil for you (almost wish it hadn't been spoiled for me). So yeah, this game offers plenty of playtime. I'll undoubtedly sink over 100 hours into it, and multiple playthroughs.

The verdict
Arkham Knight is a must buy for any gamer that enjoys an action game, stealth, vehicle combat, Action RPG, or just plain great gameplay and story. I'd give it a solid 10/10 personally speaking. You're getting it at a steal at any price.



Beyond!

That wraps it up for this month's VSM. My apologies for it's extreme lateness. I'll be sure to get the next one out within the first week if at all possible.

What did you think about the article? Any changes need to be made? Did you enjoy the product review? Thoughts on any of the content? Let me know with a reply.

Until next month: as always, keep on gaming and keep it Sony.

I do have something to say: resize screenshots. I had to scroll horizontally to read the whole article just because of some oversized images. And in Firefox, where the screen is zoomed in a lot more, this can be nearly unreadable without scrolling.

Besides that, not that much of a promising month. Of course, since nothing about Gran Turismo 7, Tekken 7 and a new SoulCalibur was said at E3, we have no news of them as of yet. I already forgot about that, why did you have to remind me this, brain?

A new Godzilla game? Man, nostalgia is in the air. What kind of game is it? I'm only interested in it if it's a fighting game, like Destroy All Monsters for the GameCube. I liked that game, and seeing a sequel all these years after it would feel great. Nice graphics, nonetheless.

As always, only a handful of games to be released for PS3. My desire to upgrade to PS4 is increasing with every VSM. Not like there were any games that caught my attention, other than the aforementioned Godzilla. F1 2015 does look great, but I dislike so much the new rulings (and any seasonal game, as they are in constant change), so not even going to try a demo, if there ever is.

That's as much as I can say. Nice format, the review about PS4 was very interesting, specially for someone like me that could upgrade soon. Keep up the great work, man, and I hope you get a better crystal ball for future conventions!

EX Palen : Yeah, I changed the larger images to hyperlinks right after posting. I always have to run a few edits after posting this article as something will always go wrong. xD Is the problem still there, or did you pop in before the edit? And sadly I've yet to figure out how to get a resize to work on here.

Lost Dimension looked interesting (sorry I had no info on that one) as did The Swindle and The Fall.
Rory McIlroy PGA Tour has my eye as well, and Rocket League and Journey. I'm personally too exited about next month's release of Everybody's Gone To The Rapture to worry too much about this month's lineup though, aside from Journey.

I'm thinking of maybe linking to the PlayStation Blog for each game on the upcoming list if I can find one. What do you think? It would be far more informative than just a screenshot.

Godzilla is basically Rampage on steroids and in 3D. lol You destroy cities pretty much. However it's getting really bad reviews (IGN gave it a 4.5/10. IGN! they rate everything high lol). Here's a link to a review if you're interested: http://www.destructoid.com/review-godzilla-296005.phtml As for the graphics, that review claims that the graphics drop to PS2 quality at times in the game. Apparently they just shared the flashiest scenes they had because I thought it looked great as graphics go.

Yes, the PS3 is getting fewer games than the Vita anymore. Sad really because the PS3 is still selling fairly well. It looks like developers are moving on to the new generation far more quickly this time around.

And F1 2015 looked good to me, but the PlayStation blog post's replies were saying the game was terrible. Who knows though, it could just be disgruntled customers.

And thanks for the compliments on the article. I'll be adding more info on the games again next month, but this month was crazy with my aunt's passing. I have yet to get back into my routine.

Aye: no more bargain shopping for prediction items in the future.

Some screenshots are now gone, so I popped in before that edit. It seems I was that hungry to get more news from Sony

Even if those games look interesting for you, I'm mostly interested in the fighting and racing genres, sometimes a turn-based strategy or sports game can take my interest but it's rare. Here the reason why I didn't bother about the PGA Tour.

It could be a nice addition to link the Playstation Blog. You should definitely try it, unless you want people here asking you aspects from (insert game here) that can't be discerned by a screenshot.

So, Godzilla is about being Godzilla  I can guess why it has such low rating, Godzilla rampaging around isn't original anymore, we've seen just too much of it. If it really was a sequel to Destroy All Monsters, it would definitely get better ratings.

About F1, I don't know the recent games, but I played the 2010 season on PS3 and it was little more than meh. I think that the new rulings, coupled with the terrible sound the engines produce, have taken its toll not only in the show's audience, but also on the videogames.

On another note, you, like a ton of Sony players, expected something about Gran Turismo 7 at E3. I read at the wikia that there's an incomplete official car list, and even though it looks terrible, it also looks promising in an aspect or two. Still, that incomplete list isn't enough for me to not switch to PROJECT CARS. The list has an awful quality, check it for yourself.

PSV - 154,228 (-16%)



strangely, when I saw this, I thought somehow Playstation 5 was pulling a Sega Saturn for a moment. 

Eirinn : Wow! I checked all the screenshots and it seems there are a lot of games that are coming out that look interesting to me. I liked Lost Dimension's look for the PS3. Then I also liked Pneuma: Breath of Life for the PS4 and King's Quest Episode 1: A Knight to Remember for the PS4. I am looking forward to that new Ratchet and Clank game too because I love their humor in those games and they always have cool weapons and storyline to those games. This is the first time I heard of Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess on the PS4 and PS3. Just the sound of the title makes me think it will be another Dragon Quest 8 Journey of the Cursed King except in real-time flowing battle system. Sounds very good to me ! I loved Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King! Anyways, so you said the Deception 4: The Nightmare Princess is suppose to come out this month on the fourteenth or July 14th if I'm not mistaken? Do they have any gameplay videos of all these games yet that I mentioned?

EX Palen : I didn't really think anyone would be interested in the PGA game, I'm just a golf nerd so... xD

As for the F1 rulings, that was actually a complaint among some of the people on the blog, but I suppose a true to life Sim can't very well change the official rulings (assuming I'm understanding correctly, as I'm entirely unfamiliar with F1).

And I actually didn't think GT7 would come out because, as I said last month, the timing seemed really odd. I only gave it the 40% because I had confidence in the source that predicted it. Otherwise I would have put it lower. Also Drive club and Project CARS look like good choices for racing, as does RIDE.


endings : xD Sorry about that, PSV is a placeholder that I forgot to edit there. Thank goodness we don't see a PS5 yet. Hopefully that holds off for another five or six years at least.


happiness7 : Hey, he's back! lol Yeah, I saw quite a few interesting releases this month as well. Like I told Ex Palen, I was interested by The Swindle, The Fall, Journey, Rocket League (which is a free PS+ game this month by the way), and Rory McIlroy PGA Tour. That's a lot for one month.

Deception is actually about building traps to torture humans to death. I know, right? Apparently you play as "a fragment of the devil's soul" and try to free him (he's also called your father) from his eternal prison or something along those lines. Not sure I could post a video here though. xD Here's a brief description and some links to reviews: http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/deception-iv-the-nightmare-princess

Pneuma: Breath of Life is a puzzle game about being a god, I believe. Really difficult for me to explain, so here's a link: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/06/04/philosophical-puzzler-pneuma-breath-of-life-coming-to-ps4-on-77/
Gameplay Video: https://youtu.be/4GyMxvCM86A

King's Quest Episode 1 is a (if I may borrow Nintendo's term from E3) reimagining of the old King's Quest games. But that's all I really know.
Cinematic trailer: https://youtu.be/BtE7i3LGBCQ
Gameplay (E3) trailer: https://youtu.be/iUtZR_6StRk

Ratchet and Clank:
Cinematic trailer: https://youtu.be/iU3sU2WMcPM
Gameplay video: https://youtu.be/CJEa6TnA824

I hope this helps.