Console War Coverage*

As always we start off with a look at console sales as well as the sales of Sony's handheld, the PlayStation Vita. Now let's see how the numbers turned out this time.

June 21st - 27th

PS4 - 328,266 ( +101%)
Xbox One - 145,694 (+76%)
Wii U - 44,737 (-10%)

PS3 - 18,970 (-2%)
Xbox 360 - 11,370 (+3%)
Wii - 811(-3%)

PS Vita - 51,160 (+41%)

PS4 leads the way with a 101% jump in weekly sales putting above the Xbox One (which jumped by 76% itself) by over 180,000 systems sold, and the Xbox One leads the Wii U by roughly 101,000. The spike in PS4 and Xbox One sales were directly tied to the release of Batman: Arkham Knight (I bought a PS4 that week with that game bundled in it myself).

Last gen is lead by PS3 which has a 7,600 system lead over the 360, which leads the Wii by over 3,500 sales.

And the PlayStation Vita sees a 41% boost in weekly sales, causing it to actually outsell all last gen consoles as well as the Wii U this week. The sales spike seems to be related to the release of Persona 4: Dancing All Night.


June 28th - July 5th

PS4 - 230,395 (-30%)
Xbox One - 119,848 (-18%)
Wii U - 41,768 (-7%)

PS3 - 19,179 (+1%)
Xbox 360 - 11,342 (-0%)
Wii - 778 (-4%)

PS Vita - 38,347 (-25%)

And after last week's sales spikes every current system sees the inevitable drop in weekly sales. This week the PS4 leads by roughly 110,000, while Xbox One leads Wii u by roughly 78,000.

The PS3 leads the 360 this week by just under 8,000, and the 360 leads the Wii by roughly 10,600.

The Vita also drops after a sales spike, but it still moves a healthy enough 38,347 units this week.

*totals do not reflect used system sales


Software Sales*

June 21st - 27th

PS4 - 2,393,747 (+150%)
Xbox One - 964,199 (+87%)
Wii U - 395,704 (+11%)

PS3 - 710,801 (+6%)
Xbox 360 - 500,987 (-7%)
Wii - 197,583 (-1%)

PS Vita 248,385 (+83%)


June 28th - July 5th

PS4 - 1,216,963 (-49%)
Xbox One - 492,871 (-49%)
Wii U - 325,044 (-18%)

PS3 - 682,144 (-4%)
Xbox 360 - 484,218 (-3%)
Wii - 193,088 (-2%)

PS Vita - 180,111 (-27%)

*totals do not reflect used system sales


Upcoming PS3 Games

We're going to try doing this a little differently this month; instead of linking you to several screenshots and videos, I will be linking you directly to the PlayStation Blog page for each game (when I can find one). This is an attempt to keep from cluttering each game list with several links, plus it offers more details than I could without plagiarizing a whole blog page. Please let me know what you think of this new method. Is it better, worse, or about the same to you?

Also if you want info or screenshots that cannot be found here, let me know and I'll gladly dig some up for you.

October 6th
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax
A beautiful looking animé fighter.
Click here for information



Transformers: Devastation
Here's one that has my eye personally, and I don't even like Transformers. I definitely suggest checking the link.
Click here for information on this game

October 13th
Atelier Arland Trilogy

October 20th
Guitar Hero Live

Tales of Zestiria 
Please note that the link below is to blog.EU.playstation.com, rather than blog.us.playstation.com. Also it is for the PS4 version.
Click here for info


Upcoming PS4 Games

October 6th
Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance
Click for more information

Rock Band 4

Super Meat Boy
Finally. That is all.
Infos!

Transformers: Devastation
Same link as is found under Upcoming PS3 Games.
Click here for information on this game


October 9th
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

October 13th
Dragon Quest Heroes
Click here for more information

Grand Ages: Medieval
Click for info

The Talos Principle
Click for more information

Wasteland 2: Director's Cut
Go ahead, click the link. You know you want to

October 20th
Guitar Hero Live

Tales of Zestiria 
Same link as is found under Upcoming PS3 Games.
Click here for info

October 23rd
Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Click here for more information


Upcoming PS Vita Games

October 6th
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax
Same link as is found under Upcoming PS3 Games.
Click here for information

Super Meat Boy
Same link as is under Upcoming PS4 games.
Nothing to see here...hey you! What are you doing?!? No, don't click this! No!!!

October 13th
Corpse Party: Blood Drive


PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection for October 2015

Yes, it's time for another round of free games that people complain about getting...for fee...yeah. Here it is, your free games for the month of October 2015.

Also, please be aware that if you see a game in the free lineup that you want, but it's on a PlayStation system that you do not yet own but plan to, you can use your PS+ membership to "purchase" (it's free still) any of the PS+ games that you want and just download it once you get the system. So planning on a PS4 or Vita? Go ahead and snatch up all of those free games now, and you'll have plenty of games waiting on you when you get that shiny new system of yours.


Click here for a video of the free games this month for PS+ members

Below all of the games will be listed, along with videos since the above video is rather poorly put together and leaves you wondering what some of the games in it are and what system they're for. I mean, how do you condense six games --most on more than one system-- into a thirty three second video and not present them poorly? Seriously Sony, be proud of what you're offering and show us some good footage of each game when available.

Super Meat Boy - PS4/PS Vita
No video as it hasn't released on these systems yet.

Broken Age - PS4/PS Vita
Launch trailer

Unmechanical Extended - PS3/PS4
Announcement trailer

Chariot - PS3
A video for a game I want so badly but unfortunately is only free to PS3 owners so I can't play it for a while yet. Rants in links ftw!

KickBeat - PS3/PS Vita
Launch trailer

Kung Fun Rabbit - PS3/PS Vita
Trailer

My apologies if any of these videos contain any inappropriate content, but I was unable to watch them in their entirety due to data limit restrictions.

So what do you plan to pick up from this month's PS+ game list? I myself will definitely nab Super Meat Boy and Kung Fu Rabbit, but I'll also likely grab Unmechanical Extended, Broken Age, and Chariot. I may not be able to play them yet, but I'll have them later.


PlayStation Product Review

Okay so this month I'll be reviewing two things, albeit one will be reviewed in very few words.

Up first Super Time Force Ultra.
So if you have PS+, you may very well have picked this one up for free last month like I did. My initial instincts said it would be no good, but never judge a book by it's cover, right? So how did it turn out?


Gameplay:


The game's main focus is on the ability to rewind time at any point (though it'll mostly be used to undo a death). If you die you can rewind and jump back in at any point from the beginning of the level to the point when you died. You can also change characters before dropping back in. Finally, your "ghost" (your performance before you rewound) will play in the background much like a "ghost" racer does in a racing game. Any shots the replay fires count just like your current player's shots do. The nice thing about this is that while your shots may barely scratch a boss, by the time you've died against him and rewound fifteen times, you can deplete his health in only a few seconds. That much is nice.

However...

The novelty of this feature sadly wore off before I was halfway finished with the brief tutorial, and it never really came back. This simply is not enough to build a good game on in my opinion. When the novelty of the game's main mechanic wears off before the tutorial ends, it's a very bad sign of things to come.


The story:



The story is very plain and feels like it was thrown together in a hurry, just to give the idea behind the rest of the gameplay a place to start. Honestly it feels like they put the story together at the beginning of the game's conceptual stages, and just never came back to work on it.

You'll notice right from the start that the game's story and dialogue are meant to be silly and funny, and they nailed at least one of those perfectly. Sadly, the silly part is the part that they got right, and it isn't the funny kind of silly, it's the mind numbingly dumb kind. The game's dialogue is just plain off putting to anyone who isn't wanting an outright dumb game, or an annoyingly stereotyped modern day internet forum user, or painfully forced text lingo and cheesy jokes. "the internet is a thing that has cat videos and lolz" "kthnxbye" and "We're like super rockstar heroes forever" are a few (possibly misquoted) examples of the type of dialogue that grows old before the first scene ends.


Redeeming qualities:
Honestly I couldn't find any. The gameplay is below mediocre, the dialogue is annoying to read, and the game is offensive in many ways including mocking religion, insulting the gamer, and stereotyping it's own players as airheads.


Final Verdict:
Don't pick the game up, even if it's free. Your memory is better allocated to just about anything else. Offensive content aside, the gameplay is just that bland. No story could have saved this one.



Up next: PlayStation Vita
So after a few months of saying I was going to get a Vita, I finally did. I might have gotten it sooner had I not snatched up a copy of Freedom Wars and a PlayStation Vita starter kit a month before buying the actual system. Yeah, I was too excited for my own good. But now to tell about how it stands up in comparison to my expectations.


First impressions:
Before powering the system on, I gave it a once over. The first thing of note: tiny control sticks. I mean these things are maybe one third the size of a DualShock's control sticks. They feel insanely tiny under a pair of adult thumbs, but I found myself getting used to them rather quickly. In fact, I was fine with them before actually turning the thing on.


Next we have the Dpad. Yes, a Dpad. Now anyone who's as particular as I am about their wording when it comes to gaming will understand my surprise here already. However for those who aren't as picky, allow me to explain: Official PlayStation controllers have never had a Dpad. Instead, Sony ditched Dpads in favor of D buttons. This initially left moving characters feeling a little more stiff, and even accounted for a few sore thumbs in my childhood days, but eventually as games moved toward analog movements only, the D buttons became a much better setup as they became used as face buttons rather than an odd directional pad.

But the Vita tossed that aside (and maybe the PSP did too, I never had one) and gave us a Dpad. This is odd and unfortunate as the Dpad is much more prone to sending menu movements the wrong way than D buttons are. I usually use the D buttons for menus because the sticks are too easy to mess up with and end up sending me sideways in the menu list instead of up or down. However a Dpad means I cannot alleviate that navigational problem.

A minor nitpick, but still enough for me to consider it a tiny detractor.


Then there's the touchpad: that thing is huge! And the hugeness of the touchpad is a big plus I would say. Also it is much easier to use than we first feared at the system's launch a few years back.


And that OLED screen (not included in the slim model) does indeed look very pretty.


The gameplay experience:
But now for the important stuff: how does it handle as a game system?



I have to say, I am thoroughly impressed with the system in general. I've actually been enjoying it so much that I haven't touched my PS4 in a week. Now I still think the PS4 is amazing, but my point here is that the Vita has finally pushed the handheld market past that barrier that kept handhelds inferior to consoles in terms of enjoyment for gamers who enjoyed the most modern games and the quality that consoles give us. Yes, the PlayStation Vita truly is a PlayStation console gaming experience on the go. And don't believe what you hear: the system has tons of great games on it, it just doesn't try to appeal to every gamer out there like the PS4 does. But make no mistake, there are many many great games on the PlayStation Vita, and if they're your style then this system is a must buy.


The rest


The UI on the Vita is actually worlds better than both the PS3 and PS4. Everything is arranged neatly, with the apps being on the first two screens and the games being on the bottom screen. Just a few swipes and you're in business. The whole process is very intuitive for anyone who has ever used a touch screen device.

The system is also very sturdy and feels like it's built to last. I would gladly pick the Vita to win a drop test against the 3DS. I wouldn't use my Vita of course...I'd probably use zanderlex's Vita.


Final verdict:
I could say more, but let's leave it at this: I highly recommend the Vita to any PlayStation gamer with classic PlayStation game tastes. This is definitely the best handheld I've ever used, and it certainly is the highest quality handheld out there.


Goodbye For Now

That'll do it for this month's VSM. I hope you enjoyed the new look of the upcoming games list, but if you didn't, let me know and we'll go back to the previous way of doing things. Also let me know what you think of the PlayStation Product Reviews section so I'll know whether to include it more or less often.

And please note that there will be no coverage of system sales next month. This will be done so that we can get back into reporting a month's worth of sales rather than covering two weeks at a time.


Drop in next month for more PlayStation awesomeness, including:

-Upcoming Games

-Free PS+ lineup

-PlayStation Product Review on two games

And more.
Until next time keep on gaming, and keep it Sony.

I'm kinda PO'ed about that crappy Xbox One beating out the Wii U. The Wii U should be getting better sales than that. Kinda stinks it doesn't, anyways I might have to get Tales of Zesteria at some point if I buy a PS4. I love the Tales series, so I'd probably enjoy that game as well.

gamerforlifeforever2 : I agree that the Wii U should outsell the XBox One. While it's no secret that I think the Wii U was a bad move in ways, and that this was a needed lesson for Nintendo, I do think it's a little known fact that I feel the Wii U is a good system in it's own right, and I'd actually like to have one. I feel as though the Wii U has more quality to offer than the XBox One, and as such it does stink to see it lag behind.

One thing I feel is different here is that even though EVERY company that makes a game system does so to make money, it feels as though MS just does it like it's just another money pull, while PlayStation and Nintendo (who also do it for money) actually have a passion for video games. Maybe it's just me viewing things through my rose colored glasses though.


As for Tales of Zestiria, I'm really interested in that one as well. I've only tried two Tales games, and I loved them both. I would gladly jump at a good chance to get back into the series now, and I probably will get it when I can afford to.

Honestly these past two months the PS4 has been getting too many good games for me to keep up financially. lol

You have to try the drop test with zander's Vita. That is what we call in here "investigative journalism"

It's just me or it was a somewhat dead month in terms of new games? I have the impression there weren't many new games out as lately. Still, some interesting titles have been released, like the all new Assassin's Creed. Never been a fan of playing the game, but it's indeed awesome, and the movie will mark my return to theaters to watch a movie with real actors after years (but the waiting to return to watch a movie that hasn't got anything to do with anime or videogames will last for some more).

Unmechanical seems addictive, not to mention I desperately want a plushie of the protagonist. Looks a little bit creepy, but also huggable. Meat Boy would also make a good choice to get. Too bad my time with the PS3 is almost over, until January I won't be able to enjoy the monthly free games.

I'm really looking forward to the next edition. I want to see what else besides the all new Need for Speed is ready to go.

Eirinn : Which 2 tales games did you try out? I'm guessing one of them was Tales of the Abyss? If so, then what was the other one?

Great VSM as always Eirinn! I'm excited for the new ps vita games coming out! Super meat boy... man you really weren't joking about that game name lol xD I'm going to get it if I have the money. :3 It's suppose to be hard? Bring it on!

EX Palen : Totally agreed on the drop test. I like the term...it makes it sound so professional.

I thought Disgea 5 looked interesting, but I don't know enough about it to say for sure. I am looking forward to Grand Ages, and Super Meat Boy, and Transformers is one I might try as well. Now I can't say I'm super hyped for any of these games, but there are some interesting ones I think.

As for PS+ this month, I'll be putting all of them in my queue, and I'll just download them when I get a connection and a PS3. Yes, I'm buying a PS3 even though I have a PS4. lol

And dude, you're slacking off! It took you two days to reply to the VSM! You're slipping!


gamerforlifeforever2 : No, it was Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia I think? Not sure about the last one, it was a PSX game I know. I'm assuming those are part of the same series, right? I sure hope so. :3


Bintsy : Super Meat Boy is listed as $14.99 normally. A little more than I like to pay for an Indie game despite my love for Indies (playing Xeodrifter through for the third time now), but I hear *in my Clarence voice* it's worth iiiiit.

It IS great seeing PS Vita games coming out. I love it getting support. Unfortunately I miss a lot of Vita releases by way of Indie titles when I post the VSM as Indie games don't tend to make my reference lists of upcoming games. I know Flame Over hit the Vita recently and it looked sweet if you like Shoot 'em Ups.

Anyway, thanks! And I'll start trying to find all of the upcoming Vita games that don't show up on my lists, but that'll be tough.

zanderlex : EX Palen and I need to borrow your PS Vita for a sec....

As you know, I'm slacking off in more than one way, both here and in real life. It's just that I'm that easy-going and I love slacking off, particularly sleeping.

Besides, I mostly go by "New Posts", and after 10 hours without checking the site, that page doesn't show everything, so I must go forum by forum. I only discovered this thanks to the replies, didn't saw the thread being posted. Not an excuse, though, but next time I'll reply quicker.