PS4 Pro Users Can Replace Internal Hard Drive
While the PlayStation 4 Pro won't feature a built-in solid state drive, users will be able to replace the console's internal HDD with a new drive of their choosing.
"Yes, it is user replaceable," PlayStation 4 lead architect Mark Cerny told IGN when asked if PS4 owners will be able to upgrade the console's internal hard drive.
Cerny went on to note that PlayStation 4 Pro has "the same setup" as the standard PS4, confirming that while the company has no current plans to release a version of the console with a built-in solid state drive, "you are free to put an SSD in there," if you so choose.
PlayStation 4 Pro will be available starting November 10. For more on Sony's mid-generation console upgrade, which supports both 4K and HDR, read up on what Cerny told us about PS4 Pro's modest RAM boost.
Star Wars: Rogue One Prequel Sheds Light on Erso, Krennic
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is getting a prequel novel that sheds light on the tenuous relationship between Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) and Imperial officer Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn).
According to USA Today, Rogue One: Catalyst is written by James Luceno and will be released on November 15. It will lead up to the Rogue One film, with Felicity Jones’ character Jyn Erso also receiving an introduction as a little girl in the book, helping fans better understand her actions in the movie.
Pablo Hidalgo, a creative executive in Lucasfilm’s Star Wars Story Group, told USA Today that the book will answer questions about the Death Star, its architects, where the idea first came from, and the important role both Erso and Krennic play in its construction.
Aquaman Director Compares Film to Indiana Jones
Aquaman filmmaker James Wan is making sure his DC film feels similar to an Indiana Jones adventure.
Speaking with ET, Wan talked about the setting and mood of Aquaman. "I kind of don't want to give too much away but know this: The spirit that I'm going for is like a classic sort of swashbuckling action adventure, sort of high seas adventure story," he said. "It's ultimately a quest story in the spirit of Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Romancing the Stone."
Justice League will first introduce Jason Mamoa as Aquaman and Amber Heard as Mera. And Wan, who's previously helmed Furious 7 and The Conjuring, said the DC superhero team-up movie will give us a sense of his standalone flick.
Godzilla 2 Taps X2 and Superman Returns Screenwriter
X2 and Superman Returns co-writer Michael Dougherty will reportedly pen the sequel to 2014's Godzilla. He'll be joined by Zach Shields; the duo previously collaborated on Krampus, last year's Christmas-themed horror film.
According to Variety, these hires may indicate Legendary Pictures is establishing a writers room for its cinematic universe of giant monsters, which includes Godzilla and King Kong, among others.
Is Blizzard Hinting at Hearthstone for Nintendo Switch?
Blizzard may already be teasing the possibility of Hearthstone, their wildly successful free-to-play digital card game, coming to the newly revealed Nintendo Switch.
Despite Activision-Blizzard not technically being on the list of third-party partners released by Nintendo, the official Hearthstone Twitter account posted this earlier this morning, telling Nintendo that "we see you."
While the image below is clearly from Hearthstone, this is in no way an offical game announcement, and could just be a cute Twitter joke rather than a hint that Hearthstone will appear on Switch. We've already reached out to Blizzard, and are waiting to hear back from them.
PlayStation 4 Pro Has an Extra 1GB of RAM
Sony's enhanced PS4 will feature an extra 1GB of RAM, PlayStation 4 Pro lead architect Mark Cerny has revealed.
In an interview with IGN, Cerny explained that because PS4 Pro is part of the PlayStation 4 generation, the company took a "different direction" in upgrading the hardware, when compared to the significant memory upgrades typically seen in the shift to an entirely new console generation.
"We felt games needed a little more memory, about 10 percent more, so we added about 1GB of slow, conventional DRAM to the console," Cerny explained.
He went on to note that on the standard PS4, when moving from application to a game, that application remains resonant in the system memory to allow for fast swapping between the two. With PS4 Pro, that application is moved to the extra 1GB of RAM when swapping to a game, freeing up nearly an entire gigabyte of the console's remaining 8GB of GDDR5 RAM.
Nintendo Confirms Amiibo Support for Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch home gaming system will "absolutely" support amiibo for compatible Nintendo Switch games, Nintendo has confirmed to IGN.
"If a Nintendo Switch game supports amiibo then the Nintendo Switch home gaming system will as well," a Nintendo representative told IGN.
Nintendo also clarified a couple more features of its newly unveiled Nintendo Switch console, including the function of the Nintendo Switch Dock seen in its announcement trailer, which you can watch below.
"The Nintendo Switch Dock has been created so that it is extremely easy to seamlessly switch from playing games on a TV to transition into a portable mode," a Nintendo representative told IGN.
Daily Deals: GTA V, Call of Duty Black Ops III, Star Wars Battlefront
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Grand Theft Auto V is a Steal at $30
$30 is as cheap as GTA V ever gets, and Best Buy's official eBay store has copies for that exact price.
- Grand Theft Auto V $30 (PS4)
What’s New in Splatoon and Mario Kart for Nintendo Switch
The reveal of Nintendo's upcoming new console, the Nintendo Switch, included gameplay footage of both Mario Kart and Splatoon. And while Nintendo has yet to confirm whether these games are updated versions of the Wii U's Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon or new games entirely, the footage teases some new content updates for both games.
So what's different in the Switch's takes on these two Nintendo franchises? Let's take a deeper dive into the footage and check it out.
The Mario Kart footage starts off with a familiar track — the Mario Kart: Double Dash Gamecube course Yoshi Circuit, which was made available as Mario Kart 8 DLC — but quickly introduces a few changes. Among them:
PS4 Players to Get ‘First Access’ to Some Red Dead 2 Content
PlayStation has announced a partnership with Rockstar that will give PS4 players online DLC timed exclusives and will bring the original Red Dead Redemption to its PlayStation Now service.
"We are pleased to announce that PS4 players get first access to earn select online content in the vast open world of Red Dead Redemption 2", reads a PlayStation Blog post.
No details are given about what that online content might be, with PlayStation adding only: "Check back on PlayStation.Blog for more details soon and for all of the latest information on Red Dead Redemption 2."