Author: Trafficblast

What would a portable PlayStation look like if it were designed at the height of Sony’s Walkman era? Well, a bit like Sony’s beloved portable music player combined with a Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP, according to the imagination of artist and designer Dan Clarke.

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Clarke, who runs a website displaying his passion projects called Arkotype, has recently added the ‘Sony Playman’ to his creations. “In an alternate reality (That I’ve made up) Sony released a handheld console in the early 2000s called the Playman which featured a clamshell design and used the proprietary MiniDisc™ media format,” he explained on Twitter.

The imaginary device features a 3.8 inch LCD screen, Memory Stick storage, digital control inputs and a slot-loader for the MiniDisc. A ‘Playman MD Remote’ with an LCD display shows additional game information, which is a nice call back to the days of Sony’s remote headphones. (The ‘compatible titles only’ disclaimer is also a nice in-universe touch).

The design feels authentically Sony, so much so that you could probably fool a few people by claiming it was a secret scrapped project from 2001. Afterall, a MiniDisc-based PlayStation Game Boy is effectively what the PSP, released in 2004, was.

Some early scribbles, as you can see I got a bit obsessed with designing hinges. pic.twitter.com/yzbfaPgx0w

— Dan Clarke (@danclarke) February 25, 2020

Clarke shared further sketches on his Twitter account, showing early ideas for the design, as well as designs for the actual MiniDiscs that games would ship on.

More Playman MiniDisc™ Games. pic.twitter.com/aTtA320e5c

— Dan Clarke (@danclarke) February 26, 2020

For more Sony nostalgia, why not take a look at the best PS2 games of all time as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the beloved console.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

If you own a Valve Index VR headset then you can now preview two locations from Half-Life: Alyx. If you don’t own one then the good news is that they’ll be back in stock next week.

Valve released the two Half-Life: Alyx preview environments through SteamVR Home so all you need to do is download them from there. If you don’t own a Valve Index then you can try asking someone who does own one to host a SteamVR Home session for you.

The first location is an alleyway inside City 17, the metropolis that was first introduced to the series in Half-Life 2. There are buildings on either side of you so you’re going to feel pretty boxed in. However, the main feature can be seen if you look up and to the distance, as you’ll be able to spot the towering Citadel looming over you. As Half-Life: Alyx is a prequel, the Citadel is currently in construction, whereas when it’s seen in Half-Life 2 it’s finished.

The second preview environment is Russell’s laboratory. Russel is a new character being introduced in Half-Life: Alyx, so not much is known about him except that he’s a member of the resistance.

His lab looks pretty makeshift, it comprises a few computers, lots of fans, and a fridge. It appears to be set up in the corner of a rundown apartment where some of the wall is missing, and the decorations are some aging wallpaper and a couple of rugs thrown over floorboards.

“The rendering technology available in SteamVR’s native environments is different than that in Half-Life: Alyx, and the interactivity is significantly lower than what the game itself provides,” Valve notes. “So while these scenes do not have quite as much fidelity as they will in the actual game, we think they are a faithful enough translation to provide a fun VR preview of the game’s setting.”

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Alongside the release of these two preview environments, Valve has announced that after weeks of being out of stock, its Index VR system will be available to buy again on March 9, 2020, at 10am PST / 5pm GMT.

Valve says it expects the stock to run out quickly, but any orders that go through after that supply has run out will be fulfilled when more stock comes in over the coming months. So if you don’t get an Index system from this next batch then you’ll get it eventually, but probably not in time for Half-Life: Alyx’s launch on March 23. You can always try buying another VR headset if you want to play the game on launch day.

Our Valve Index review gave it an 8.5 and said that it’s “the best way to experience VR right now.” As to Half-Life: Alyx, if you can’t stand the wait then check out 19 minutes of gameplay, and pray that we’ll have more Half-Life games on the way after this one.

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Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

On the wake of Sea of Thieves’ second anniversary, Rare is pumping out the next major update to the multiplayer pirate adventure, and it’s called Heart of Fire. The update is feature-packed, adding more story elements to the game, along with new banana themed cosmetics for your pets and weapons.

The details of the new Tall Tale quest are being kept secret, but we know that the story will continue the tale of Sir Arthur Pendragon from the Seabound Soul update. The video showcases some new firetraps, which seem to set off a wall of fire cascading from above, blocking players off from certain routes. The developers also mentioned that the firetraps can’t kill you in one hit, thankfully.

A new throwable explosive called the Blunderbomb has been added as well, with the primary purpose of knocking back enemies in tight situations. It can also be used against players, knocking them off ladders, off the side of the boat, or even away from the wheel, rigging, or capstan.”

Most importantly, banana outfits have been added for your pets, as well as a number of premium banana-themed weapons. These are available in the Pirate Emporium. This fruit-based update is in celebration of the ‘Cronch” fruit featured in Sea of Thieves.

Chest of Rage, the previous update, has been changed so now the chests can be found washed up on island shores in addition to the fortress, making them more accessible for newer players. The Merchant Alliance will now also accept ammo crates at all outposts. Ships will now spawn with two Blunderbombs, two Fire Bombs, and two Chain Shots after this update.

Heart of Fire releases on March 11 on Windows 10 for PC and Xbox One. The Sea of Thieves Anniversary Edition is currently on sale for $25 on Xbox One.

A former Counter-Strike professional player has been hit with a huge sentence after a conviction of fraud. Universo Online is reporting (via translations from Business Insider) that Shayene “shAy” Victorio has been sentenced to 116 years in prison, after allegations of fraud were made towards an online store that she helped operate between 2013 and 2017.

Victorio, who parlayed her success at professional Counter-Strike (Global Offensive and 1.6) into a large online following, is accused of operating a storefront that did not deliver on its sales to customers, with more than 100 customers left without items paid for or a refund.

Despite the sentencing, Brazil puts a 30 year limit on prison time for its citizens. Victorio is also appealing the case, stating that her former business partners on the site are to blame, including her ex-husband.

In a statement on her Instagram page (in Portuguese, below), Victorio clarifies that, as she is currently in an appeals process, she has not been arrested yet. She will only be taken into custody if the appeal fails, but her lawyer told Universo Online that they consider the sentence “inhumane,” and that they seek a new decision from the court “under the guise of the principle of innocence.”

As of last year, Victorio had left the world of professional Counter-Strike to focus on her work as a social media influencer. The details of the store she is said to have operated are not provided, and it’s not known how long the appeals process will take.

The recently launched Pokemon Home service will be undergoing some maintenance on March 7. From 5:30 PM PT to 12 AM PT on March 8 the server will be inoperable, with transfers of any kind not available during this time.

For those of you around the world, here are some of those time zones converted:

• March 7 8:30 PM ET to March 8 4 AM ET
• March 8 1:30 AM GMT to March 8 8 AM GMT
• March 8 12:30 PM AEST to March 9 7 PM AEST

There are two main bugs that the developers are currently looking into.

They will be attempting to fix a bug wherein players who competed their Pokedex before Feburary 14 are not receiving the reward Pokemon in their Gift Box. After the maintenance, players that completed the Pokedex before February 14 and received the glitched Magearna will now be able to receive the Original Color Magearna. Those who are eligible will find the Pokemon in their Gift Box after the maintenance.

In a future update, developers will fix the other bug revolving around the Pokemon Magearna. This particular bug prevents the Pokedex from registering as completed, even if the player has collected every single Pokemon in Pokemon Home. Fixing this bug will allow players who have finished their Pokedex to get the Original Color Magearna glitch through the Gift Box.

While this maintenance doesn’t fix some of the issues users are having with the application, like the seemingly broken GTS system, it is only the first major update since release. Hopefully these issues are resolved soon.

Maybe now we will get some answers to that strange .gif data miners found on release…

The console editions of Black Desert has finally joined the likes of Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn, adding cross-play servers for PS4 and Xbox One.

This update is not completely compulsory, with Players having the option to choose between cross-play or platform-exclusive servers.

Each region will be able to play the PvP modes Conquest War and Node War on the new cross-play servers on March 8 to celebrate the new update and allow new partnerships and rivalries to flourish.

Alongside these activities, an in-game event will be added for new and returning players. This event will allow players to get the Cliff and Awakening weapon boxes through completing special quests. Additional rewards can be found by locating treasure chests in the ocean.

The Archer class and Kamasylvia region have also been added to the PS4 edition, bringing it up to date with the Xbox One version.

As part of the update, Black Desert will be discounted on both PS4 and Xbox One. Black Desert is 25% off on the Playstation Network until March 18, along with 10% off pearls. Playstation Plus members can purchase Black Desert for 50% off and pearls for 20% off. Xbox One users have a similar discount, with Black Desert at 50% off and pearls for 20% off until March 16.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is due to arrive for Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2020, and pre-release hype is hitting a fever pitch. Even the most simple piece of news can get our hearts and minds racing–like, for instance, the character limit we’ll have when planning our island’s name.

The official UK Twitter account for Animal Crossing has revealed that you’ll have a ten-character limit for your island’s name, which is two more than was allowed in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. This means, for example, if your New Leaf village was named ‘GameSpot’, your island could be named GameSpotia.

So as you prepare your Animal Crossing boarding pass and have a think about how you’ll design your character, keep this limit in mind so you can plan ahead better.

It’s also worth checking out our guide to getting your hands on Animal Crossing amiibo ahead of the game’s launch, and checking out the list of improvements and changes that this entry in the series is introducing.