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Former Sony And PlayStation Exec Kaz Hirai Is Retiring
In February it was announced that Kaz Hirai, who led the PlayStation business before being promoted to CEO of Sony, would step down and transition to the role of director, chairman. Now, Sony has announced that Hirai will be retiring from those roles effective June 18. Hirai will serve as senior advisor for the company and “will continue to provide counsel as requested by Sony’s management team.”
In a statement, Hirai lent his support to Kenichiro Yoshida, who replaced him as CEO of Sony on April 1. “Since passing the baton of CEO to Yoshida-san last April, as Chairman of Sony, I have had the opportunity to both ensure a smooth transition and provide support to Sony’s management. I am confident that everyone at Sony is fully aligned under Yoshida-san’s strong leadership, and are ready to build an even brighter future for Sony.
“As such, I have decided to depart from Sony, which has been a part of my life for the past 35 years. I would like to extend my warmest gratitude to all our employees and stakeholders who have supported me throughout this journey.”
Yoshida added: “Hirai-san and I have been working on management reforms together since December 2013. While he will be retiring from both Chairman and our Board of Directors, we look forward to his continuing high-level support to Sony’s management that encompasses a breadth of diverse businesses.”
Hirai was instrumental in launching the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, and went on to become CEO and president of Sony. In February, the PlayStation business had a management reshuffle, with Jim Ryan being appointed president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment.
2019 is set to be quite a different year for the PlayStation division, particularly in the way it communicates and promotes its products to its audience and the wider gaming community. The company has pulled out of E3, where it traditionally debuted and showed off its biggest upcoming games.
Fans are looking to PlayStation Experience to be the tentpole PlayStation event for 2019. Sony opted to skip PlayStation Experience in 2018, so many are hoping to see it return this year. However, as of yet Sony hasn’t indicated it has plans to host the show.
Sony has kicked off State of Play, however. This is a series of smaller, streamed showcases in the same vein as Nintendo’s Directs. The first one yielded a new Iron Man VR title, as well as information on No Man’s Sky VR and Mortal Kombat 11. You can read all the news from Sony’s first State of Play to catch up on what happened.
Sony has said State of Play will return throughout the year to deliver updates on key titles. While the first episode wasn’t exactly a barnstormer, the company has a number of big games on the way, including Death Stranding, The Last of Us: Part II, and Ghost of Tsushima, so upcoming episodes stand to be much more exciting.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/former-sony-and-playstation-exec-kaz-hirai-is-reti/1100-6465890/
Yoshi’s Crafted World Review Roundup
Over the Nintendo Switch‘s two year life so far, owners of the hybrid device have been spoiled with a number of great platformers, with Super Mario Odyssey, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, and more all gracing the console. Now, Switch owners get another new platforming game with Yoshi’s Crafted World–but can it live up to its peers on the system?
In our Yoshi’s Crafted World review, critic Kallie Plagge says the game is a worthy addition to the Switch catalog, awarding it an 8/10. You can take a take a glimpse at more reviews below, or check out the full picture on the game’s critical reception on GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
- Game: Yoshi’s Crafted World
- Developer / Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Release date: March 29
- Price: $60 / £50 / AU $80
GameSpot — 8/10
“Yoshi’s Crafted World is at its best when it’s relaxing and pleasant. The 2D-to-3D level design keeps you curious while the go-at-your-own-pace approach keeps the pressure off and leaves you to appreciate the small, imaginative details. Its most interesting ideas never evolve past their first introductions and are frequently confined to one or two levels, but individually, those levels both reward your curiosity and your willingness to slow down and look at what’s around you–and it’s those simple pleasures that provide the most joy.” — Kallie Plagge [Full review]
IGN — 7.8/10
“Yoshi’s Crafted World is an engaging and charming platformer that is absolutely worth playing, but it misses a clear opportunity to be more than that by not taking full advantage of its most clever ideas. It has enough creative collectibles to make completionists want to hunt down every last one, but I’m disappointed Crafted World didn’t challenge me more in the way its last few levels proved it could have. Of course, I still thoroughly enjoyed every adorable hour I spent with it.” — Tom Marks [Full review]
VentureBeat — 65/100
“Yoshi’s Crafted World may be a good fit for young children or other gamers interested in the cute-factor. But as someone who prefers more fast-paced sidescrollers, I was too bored to let the clever, crafted world put a smile on my face. This is yet another Yoshi game that doesn’t come close to reaching Yoshi’s Island greatness.” — Mike Minotti [Full review]
Game Informer — 8.25/10
“After a fun adventure through a world made of wool, Yoshi’s transition to arts and crafts is a delight. With satisfying exploration, fun platforming, and a charming art style, Yoshi’s Crafted World gives the Switch yet another strong platformer.” — Brian Shea [Full review]
USGamer — 4/5
“The visuals in Yoshi’s Crafted World speak for themselves. Every corner you turn presents something new to wonder at. The game’s a bit on the easy side, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing if you accept Yoshi titles are more about exploration and collecting than serious platforming. It’s a great little “spring game” that should fill out your Switch library nicely.” — Nadia Oxford [Full review]
GamesRadar — 3.5/5
“The difficulty in recommending this game is that it’s an absolutely solid Nintendo platformer, but it doesn’t really do anything ambitious or use its conceit to great effect. I consistently wanted to soldier on to see what the next gorgeous world would entail, but when all was said and done, the experience felt slightly hollow, even if I’d had my eyes bleached by Yoshi’s cute capers.” — Jordan Oloman [Full review]
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/yoshis-crafted-world-review-roundup/1100-6465889/
Xenoblade Dev Hiring For New Legend Of Zelda Project
Monolith Soft, the developer of the Xenoblade Chronicles series, is working on a new Legend of Zelda title. The studio’s website is putting the call out for developers to join the project, and recruiting for programmers, designers, and artists, among other roles.
Although Monolith Soft is known primarily for its work on the Xenoblade Chronicles titles, it’s no stranger to Zelda. The studio previously co-developed The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and, more recently, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, where it no doubt leveraged its expertise in creating vast open-worlds that players can explore.
It’s unclear what this new game is at this stage or whether it will fit the open-world mould established by Breath of the Wild. However, Monolith Soft’s involvement with the project does certainly suggest it could be another grand adventure in the same vein as the Switch launch title.
Nintendo has a number of other Zelda projects in the pipeline. Excitingly, one of those is a remake of the Game Boy classic The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, which is being “reborn as a new experience” for Switch and is expected to launch in 2019. Nintendo has also announced Cadence of Hyrule, a crossover between its Legend of Zelda series and Brace Yourself Games’ Crypt of the Necrodancer.
Of course, if you’re really in the mood for Zelda, there’s probably still plenty left for your to do in the vast world of Breath of the Wild. In GameSpot’s review, Peter Brown awarded the game a 10, saying it is “the most impressive game Nintendo has ever created.”
He added: “No matter how gorgeous its environments are, how clever its enemies are, and how tricky its puzzles get, the fact that Breath of the Wild continues to surprise you with newfound rules and possibilities after dozens of hours is by far its most valuable quality. It’s a game that allows you to feel gradually more and more empowered yet simultaneously manages to retain a sense of challenge and mystery–which, together, creates a steady, consistent feeling of gratification throughout the entire experience. Breath of the Wild is a defining moment for The Legend of Zelda series.”
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xenoblade-dev-hiring-for-new-legend-of-zelda-proje/1100-6465888/
