Sony Is Announcing 7 Games Next Week

"E3 was only half the story."

Sony is apparently going to announce seven games next week. The company said in a blog post today that its briefing at Paris Games Week on Monday, October 30, will include "seven all-new game announcements." This covers both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR games. These announcements will start coming in during Sony's pre-show event, kicking off at 8 AM PT on October 30.

Then at 9 AM PT, when the show begins in earnest, Sony will "give you an exclusive new look at the next wave of huge PlayStation titles." And after the event ends, Sony's post-show stream will "dive deeper" into the reveals. So this is all to say: Monday sounds like it is going to be a BUSY day.

"It's going to be a wild day," Sony's Sid Shuman said. The blog post goes on to say that "E3 was only half the story." Some of Sony's E3 announcements this year included a Shadow of the Colossus remake, a 2018 date for the new God of War, and the first look at Call of Duty: WWII's multiplayer.

Sony's Paris Games Week briefing will be streamed live basically everywhere, and we'll have a page on GameSpot where you can tune in. We'll of course also have a full breakdown of all the big reveals.

What are you hoping to see during Sony's Paris Games Week briefing? Let us know in the comments below! And this may not be the end of Sony's reveals this year, as PlayStation Experience is coming in December.

Snapdeal Unbox Diwali Sale Offers: Smartphones, Laptops, External Hard Drives, and Other Deals

HIGHLIGHTS

• Snapdeal Unbox Diwali sale starts Friday, October 13
• It is offering cashback offers on mobiles, laptops, and more
• Citibank, HSBC, HDFC card offers on products

Snapdeal has ahead of Diwali announced its festival season sale, called the Unbox Diwali Sale. It takes on Flipkart's Big Diwali Saleand Amazon India's Great Indian Festival Sale. The Snapdeal Unbox Diwali Sale has started from Friday, October 13, and will end on Monday, October 16. The online marketplace is listing offers on a range of electronics such as smartphones, laptops, televisions, and more. The Snapdeal sale is offering flat discounts and cashback on a variety of bank cards, which we will talk about later.

Alongside, Snapdeal is also hosting Dhamaka Deals during the sale where there are discounts and money back offers on LED televisions, external HDDs, USB drives, PC and laptop accessories, and audio systems among others.

Snapdeal Unbox Diwali Sale cashback offers

Unlike the other two festival sales about to start from Saturday, October 14, Snapdeal sale sees cashback offers on different bank cards. Starting Friday, you will be eligible for the 15 percent cashback up to Rs. 2,000 if you make a minimum purchase of Rs. 2,000 using Citi credit card. HSBC credit and debit bank cardholders can also avail 10 percent instant discount throughout the sale period.

On the first day of sale i.e., Friday, October 13, the buyers with HDFC bank cards get an extra 10 percent instant discount, while on Saturday, October 14, Standard Chartered card users get the same privilege on a range of daily need items, household merchandise, and food items.

Snapdeal Unbox Diwali Sale mobile, other electronics deals

Under the Snapdeal Unbox Diwali Sale, the popular smartphones are being sold at flat discounted prices, with bank card offers on top. The Vivo V5 Plus 64GB in Gold colour has received a discount of 28 percent, and is now available at Rs. 19,549. If you couple this price with any of the bank card offer, the price of Vivo V5 Plus will go down to maximum Rs. 17,549 (after a Rs. 2,000 maximum cashback). Another Vivo smartphone, V5s with 20-megapixel moonlight selfie camera is available at Rs. 15,799. Gionee A1 is available at Rs. 15,348, Moto M is being sold at Rs. 14,999, and Moto G5S is going to cost you Rs. 14,295.

Coming to audio devices, Snapdeal is selling Sony MDR-ZX110A headphones with 53 percent discount, along with boAt BassHeads 200 earphones with flat 54 percent discount and Skullcandy Inkd S2IKW-J509 Bluetooth neckband earphones selling with 53 percent discount. The F&D W3 Bluetooth speaker is available at a discount of 50 percent.

For the laptops, Lenovo Ideapad 80XH01GEIN Notebook with sixth-generation Intel Core i3 and 4GB RAM/ 1TB HDD is selling at Rs. 24,999 with at least 21 percent discount. The HP 15-bu003tu laptop with sixth-generation Intel Core i3 paired with 4GB RAM and 1TB HDD storage has received an 18 percent discount and is now available at Rs. 26,499. Other PC and laptop models are also selling with discounts under the sale, and using cards of the aforementioned banks will offer you further cashback.

Under the external data storage items, WD Elements 2TB external HDD is up for sale with at least 34 percent discount, while its lower 1TB model is available with 28 percent discount. The Sony HD-B1 1TB external hard drive is up for sale at 43 percent discount, whereas the Seagate 3TB Backup Plus desktop hard drive is available at Rs. 6,499 with a discount of 54 percent.

Commenting on the announcement of Unbox Diwali sale, Vishal Chadha, chief business officer at Snapdeal said, "The Snapdeal Unbox Diwali Sale is focused on making the festive season as easy as possible for our shoppers. From best-selling products from leading brands, to attractive and affordable festival prices and competitive discounts from our participating banks, Snapdeal has everything you need to celebrate Diwali."

Who dares, wins: Flipkart-Amazon in another pre-Diwali sale battle, here are the best offers

Round three is here!

After locking horns twice during this festive season, the two heavyweights of Indian e-commerce industry are set for their next round of their bout.

Amazon India, under its Great Indian Festival sales, is offering “big deals on big brands,” whereas, the home-grown behemoth, Flipkart is offering heavy discounts under its Big Diwali Sale from October 14 to October 17.

Flipkart’s Shubh Bhi, Labh Bhi

The sale on TVs and appliances has already begun and the e-commerce giant is offering up to 70 percent off on the purchases. Ultra-HD 4K smart TVs are available from Rs 27,999 whereas microwave ovens are available from Rs 3,299. Sandwich makers are available at up to 70 percent discounts. Similar offers are available for home audio systems and other kitchen appliances.

The company, in order to cash into the sales of jewellery during Diwali, is offering a minimum 20 percent off on gold and diamond jewellery.

On mobiles, besides discounts, there are exchange offers and buyback guarantee schemes. Honor 9i, pegged as world’s first smartphone with four cameras is offered at Rs 17,999, whereas, the sale of newly launched Mi Mix 2 also starts on October 17.

A minimum of 50 to 70 percent discount is being offered on clothes and apparel. On the other hand, electronic gadgets are listed on the website at up to 80 percent discounts. Flipkart is guaranteeing "lighting discounts" on all electronic products this Diwali.

Amazon India offers

The four-day ‘festival’ is the continuation of discounts the Jeff Bezos-led company offered during last round of sale. The company is terming this as the “last chance [for customers] to save big on festive shopping.”

Mobile phones are being offered on up to 40 percent discount, whereas mobile accessories are available at up to 80 percent off. TVs are up for grabs at a discount of maximum 40 percent. A discount of up to Rs 20,000 is also available on select laptops.

Similar offers are available on refrigerators (up to 30 percent off), networking devices (up to 60 percent off), ACs (up to 40 percent off), headphones and speakers (up to 60 percent off) and storage devices like portable hard drives (up to 50 percent off).

Amazon is also offering special discounts under its Dhanteras offers (valid all four days). Customers can avail up to 60 percent discount on jewellery and kitchen products. Silver and gold coins are on sale at up to 10 percent discount whereas jewellery is up for grabs at up to 60 percent discount. Stainless steel utensils (up to 50 percent off), copper products (up to 60 percent off) and cookware (up to 50 percent off) are also up for grabs.

Up to 70 percent discount is available on clothing and accessories. Books, PC and console games are also available at more than 50 percent discounts.

Customer is king

Indians are known to splurge big during Diwali and both giants are well prepared with exclusive offers and attractive deals to pull as many customers they can. Amid this frenzy, no company is talking about the strain these discounts could cause to their pockets. For now, the pocket is deep and the customer is king.

Flipkart Big Diwali Sale 2017 Dates Revealed, Offers and Deals Previewed

HIGHLIGHTS

• Flipkart Big Diwali Sale to be held from October 14 to 17
• Offers, deals on mobiles and other product categories teased
• A TV and Appliances sale has already begun

The Flipkart Big Diwali Sale will be held from October 14 to October 17, and ahead of its start, the e-commerce brand has given a sneak peek at some of the offers and deals that can be expected, from mobiles to TVs and electronics. In fact, the Flipkart sale has already begun in part, the company said, with up to 70 percent off on TVs and Appliances until the end of the sale. Users can expect 10 percent 'instant discount' on HDFC credit and debit cards, while those using PhonePe for payments can expect 20 percent cashback (up to Rs. 200). Flipkart is also touting special discounts for customers exchanging a list of smartphones. Bajaj Finserv no-cost EMIs will be available on over 4 lakh phones.

Let's start with the upcoming mobile deals during. Flipkart says its 'most popular phones' will be on discount during the Big Diwali Sale, specifically, the top three smartphones in three categories, rated by interest shown by consumers. The 'top sellers' category has the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, Lenovo K8 Plus, and Xiaomi Redmi 4A, in that order, while the 'budget phones' category has the Moto C Plus, Moto E4 Plus, and Samsung Galaxy J7-6. In the 'premium phones' category, the company has named the iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy S7, and iPhone 7.

Flipkart says there will also be one flash sale held on every day of the Big Diwali Sale at 12pm, starting with the Panasonic Eluga Ray X, which will be available at Rs. 6,999 (down from Rs. 8,999). Flipkart is also reiterating that the first sale of the Honor 9i will be held on Saturday, October 14, at 12am - the start of the sale. Finally, as we mentioned, Flipkart in its 'Goodbye to the old, welcome to the new' exchange deals, has listed exact discounts users will get when exchanging phones such as Redmi Note 3, Samsung Galaxy J7, Moto G3, Lenovo K4 Note, and the iPhone 5s.

The Big Diwali Sale on Flipkart will also have up to 80 percent off on electronics of select brands, including exchange offers and no-cost EMI deals. No specific offers have been mentioned on this front as yet.

As for the ongoing TV and Appliances sale, Flipkart is touting a minimum of 30 percent off on Sanyo TVs, up to 20 percent off on Sony TVs, up to 22 percent off on Vu TVs, and up to 40 percent off on Micromax TVs.

Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale Will Be Held Again Next Week: Dates, Deal Previews

HIGHLIGHTS

• Amazon recently ended its 4-day sale on September 24
• There will be offers on products across all major brands
• There will be additional cashback for Citibank card users

Amazon recently shared that the four-day Great Indian Festival Sale, which was organised earlier this month, was its biggest shopping event since it entered the Indian market four years ago. Taking inspiration from this success, the company will now be organising another Great Indian Festival Sale from October 4.

As part of its upcoming sale, the online marketplace will be offering a 10 percent additional cashback to Citibank credit and debit card holders. Users who shop on the website during the Great Indian Festival Sale with Amazon Pay balance will get 15 percent of the value back in return. The company says that users will be getting great savings on purchase of more than 10 crore products as part of the sale.

Amazon says it will be offering "big deals" on products brands including Samsung, Sony, HP, LG, Nokia, and Apple. Notable products that can be seen in the promotional banner include an iPhone and a PS4. Apart from this, other brands like OnePlus, Dell, Honor, and Vivo. can also be spotted in the banner. Amazon will also be offering No Cost EMI and exchange offers on products as part of its upcoming Great Indian Festival Sale as well.

In Amazon's recent sale, smartphones and large appliances were the best-selling products. In comparison with the sale at Diwali last year, the company managed to sell 2.5 times more smartphones, and four times more products in large appliances category.

Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale Dates Announced; 500 Offers & Up to 40 Percent Discount on Mobile Phones

HIGHLIGHTS

• The sale will end on same day as Flipkart's sale
• The company will offer deals across products
• Prime members will get early access to deals

The next Amazon Great Indian Festival sale starts on September 21 and will continue till September 24. These Amazon sale dates, unsurprisingly, set up a clash with the next Flipkart Big Billion Days sale, which commences on September 20 and ends on September 24. Even though the Amazon sale will be open to everyone on September 21, Prime members will get early access to the deals, starting at noon September 20. Notably, the website will be providing over 6,000 offers on Amazon exclusive products as part of the sale.

Amazon sale offers

According to the banner on the e-commerce site's website, the Amazon Great Indian Festival sale will offer over 40,000 offers across 4 days, with new deals every hour. The online marketplace says that there will be over 500 offers on mobiles and over 2,500 offers on electronic items. There will be over 10,000 offers on home appliances and 300,000 offers on Amazon Fashion items.

Amazon India also says that as part of Great Indian Festival sale, users will be able to avail up to 40 percent discount on mobiles from companies including Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, Lenovo, LG, and more. There will be up to 60 percent discount on Amazon Basics products as well as electronic items.

Laptops will carry discounts up to 20 percent in the Amazon sale, while TVs be up to 40 percent cheaper. Cameras and accessories will have up to 55 percent off on their prices, whereas PC accessories will have discounts up to 60 percent. Printers and networking devices will be up to 60 percent and 35 percent, respectively. The Amazon sale will also provide discounts on wearables (up to 40 percent), powerbanks (up to 65 percent), storage devices (up to 50 percent), and headphones & speakers (up to 60 percent), as well as offers worth Rs. 5,000 on Kindle devices.

During the Amazon Great Indian Festival sale, users will be able to get 10 percent cash back on HDFC debit and credit cards. They will also be able to avail 10 percent cashback (up to Rs. 500) by using Amazon Pay (minimum topup balance Rs. 500. Further, there will also be no-cost EMI and exchange offers available as part of the sale. There will also be an Amazon App Jackpot contest with prizes over Rs. 2 lakh to be won.

E-commerce rivals Amazon, Flipkart plan festive sales on same days

The sale will have offers on a range of products from smartphones, laptops, air conditioners, washing machines, apparel, fashion accessories, personal care, among others.

Amazon is set to go head with rival Flipkart with dates of its Great Indian Festival on the same day as Big Billion Days (BBD), starting September 20-24.

However, as a first, the company will provide 12 hours early access to its deals to the Prime customers from September 20, 12 noon. Another rival this year, Paytm Mall, may also begin its sale on the same dates, according to industry sources.

The sale will have offers on a range of products from smartphones, tablets, laptops, PCs, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, apparel, fashion accessories, personal care, among others.

“This year, the focus would be more on fashion, health and beauty because the margins are much higher on these when compared to the margins on smartphones,“ said co-founder of a startup that works closely with all the top e-commercecompanies.

Far Cry 5’s fishing minigame looks sort of amazing

Far Cry 5 will have fishing. Lots of fishing. You’ll be able to stop and cast whenever you want, assuming bad guys aren’t trying to blow your face off, and a video below shows some of this action off.

The two GameSpot folks running commentary over the clip offered that they spent around an hour playing Far Cry 5. 45 minutes of that hour, according to the pair, was spent fishing. Based on my history with fishing minigames in other franchises, I can relate.

Here’s the relaxation in action, by the way. It looks really great.

They describe the fishing system in Far Cry 5 as “really robust,” and offer that you have to actually think about where you’re casting and what you’re doing in order to be successful.

I know most of you won’t care about being able to fish in a game like this. It’s a side activity in a video game that’s way grander and offers driving, shooting and whatever else. Fishing will likely be ignored.

Not by me. Oh no, I’m all in on this pond experience.

Far Cry 5 is due to release on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC platforms on February 27, 2018. Almost in time for the spring thaw.

Final Fantasy XV officially coming to the PC at long last

Square Enix has finally announced the news we’ve all seen coming for months and months now. Final Fantasy XV is officially hitting the PC platform in early 2018. The company didn’t hammer down a more specific release date with the news.

The “Windows Edition” will feature all the free updates and DLC that hit Final Fantasy XVon the consoles.

Final Fantasy XV on PC will leverage the NVIDIA GameWorks tech, too, something games like Tomb Raider did as well. The email that included the news of the PC release offered this on the topic.

FINAL FANTASY XV WINDOWS EDITION will include the following GameWorks technology for real-time graphics and physics simulations:

• NVIDIA Flow – creates vivid, combustible fluid, fire and smoke.
• NVIDIA HairWorks – creates dynamic, life-like hair and fur for characters, animals and monsters that inhabit the game.
• NVIDIA ShadowWorks – enables characters to cast shadows on themselves.
• NVIDIA Turf Effects – creates life-like grass and vegetation in the game environment.
• NVIDIA VXAO – adds depth and realism based on the physics principles shadows and light.

There is also support for both GeForce® Experience™ capture and share tools:

•  NVIDIA Ansel™, an in-game photography tool that allows gamers to compose shots from any position, adjust with post-process filters, capture HDR images in high fidelity formats, and share screenshots in 360 via a smartphone, PC or VR headset.
• NVIDIA ShadowPlay™ Highlights automatically captures the player’s greatest gaming achievements in video and screenshot, enabling seamless sharing through social channels.

Here’s the official reveal trailer, in 4K.

PlayStation 4 sales declined this year, but Sony’s lead is still gigantic

Sony has now shipped 63.3 million PlayStation 4 systems to retailers worldwide, the company announced this week, up from 60 million this spring. The number came as part of the company’s earnings report, where the company said that it has sold 3.3 million systems since the previous call this spring. Of those shipped to retailers, Sony says about 60 million are actually off shelves and in consumers’ homes, according to GameSpot.

PlayStation 4 shipments dropped over this time last year, down from 3.5 million shipped. The company is expecting to sell fewer systems this year anyway, estimating 18 million total instead of the 20 million last year.

A mountain and a mole hill

SuperData Research estimated back in January that Microsoft had sold about 26 million Xbox One systems. Even if we’re generous with sales, which Microsoft no longer discloses, that puts Microsoft around or below the 30-million mark. That’s less than half. Compared to the previous generation, it’s less a contest and more a beatdown, and it has been almost without exception since launch.

A combination of a lower price at launch, some sharp marketing from Sony, and a huge, hubris-induced stumble we call Kinect, the PlayStation 4 jumped to the front of the line quickly and stayed there. Microsoft has done a lot since to make fans happy, but the company is still having trouble getting consoles off shelves right now.

With the Xbox One X, things could change. The system is the smallest Microsoft has produced and the most-powerful game console anyone has put out, with developers comparing it to a fairly expensive gaming rig. But even with that, Microsoft is asking $500 for  the system, a price gamers had trouble swallowing in 2013 for the original, under-powered Xbox One.  Contributing further to that is a relative lack of original games, excluding Forza Motorsport 7 and Crackdown 3, that show off the new system’s power in a meaningful way.

Microsoft has its Gamescom show on August 20, and could announce some things that make the deal a bit sweeter, but even so, 33 million is a big gap to close.

Add EA to the pile of companies glad that Red Dead 2 got delayed

Sometimes, video games can be massive. They can be so massive that other video games can suffer. Consider the “Call of Duty effect” that Activision’s shooter franchise once had. No publisher would want to launch their title near Call of Duty for fear that sales would be slowed due to its release.

That same notion applies to Red Dead Redemption 2, and companies have been relatively pleased to see it delayed out of 2017 and into 2018. Add EA to that list.

EA CFO Blake Jorgensen recently told investors that the delay of Red Dead Redemption 2 provides them with “a little bit of opportunity.”

“What we’ve found historically, we’ve had many times where we’ve gone into quarters that looked daunting because of the competition. Think back to [Grand Theft Auto V] when it came out, and what we actually found is it grows the overall market. It drives console sales. Oftentimes, many of those titles get bundled to help drive or reduce the price of a console for the consumer, and it drives excitement in the marketplace, and we like that. It benefits the consumer and it benefits us because it generates a lot of buzz around games.”

They like games like Red Dead Redemption 2 because they will push people to buy consoles and, in turn, eventually buy other games. They just don’t want their software to become a casualty near the release of titles like Red Dead 2.

Can you blame them? Red Dead Redemption 2’s gonna be huge.