God of War 3 – PS3

The series has always been a pioneer of jaw dropping spectacle and pristine visuals, and the third game was no different. Released back in 2010 for the PS3, it wowed players with its sense of scale that didn’t come at the cost of any compromise to the micro fidelity. The character models and environments were still some of the best on the market, and segments like the boss fight with Cronos were a strong reminder of the sheer graphical prowess of Sony’s PS3. While it wouldn’t obviously hold a candle to current gen graphics, it still holds up reasonably well by modern standards – which is yet another testament to the technical wizardry that Sony Santa Monica did with this release.

As spotted recently by a ResetEra user, Sony seems to have quietly raised the prices of a number of its titles on Steam in various countries. Games like Returnal, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Days Gone have all seen price increases to varying degrees in a number of regions, including Argentina, Japan, Canada, Colombia, China, South Korea, and Chile.

The price increases vary from title to title and country to country. In Argentina, for instance, they’ve increased from a range of 4199-5999 Pesos to 8499-9999 Pesos; in Canada, they’ve gone from $59.99-69.99 to $64.99-79.99; while in Japan, they’ve increased from 4900-6490 Yen to 6490-7590 Yen (via PlayStation LifeStyle).

Sony hasn’t yet officially communicated anything related to said price increases, so it’s currently unknown whether the changes will be restricted to Steam or if they’ll be happening in other regions as well.

God of War: Ragnarok

Sony Santa Monica’s latest God of War: Ragnarok is easily a more than worthy sequel to the stellar original that was released back in 2018, and that statement alone speaks volumes about the game’s quality. The continuation of Kratos and Atreus’ tale through the Norse realms is grand and filled to the brim with a buffet of high-adrenaline moments and spectacular boss fights. The combat and exploration have been polished to an immaculate sheen, which makes God of War: Ragnarok perhaps the best game to play on your shiny new console.

Of the many ways that Sony tied up with third party publishers heading into the next generation, Spider-Man being exclusive to PS4/PS5 players in Marvel’s Avengers was a huge curveball. Still, with Marvel’s Spider-Man being a huge success on PS4 and Sony owning developer Insomniac, could we see a crossover between the two game universes? Well, no.

Bill Rosemann, VP and head of creative at Marvel Games, told Entertainment Weekly that both properties will have their own universes. “Each game is in the Marvel universe, but they’re in their own reality if you will. Currently, our plan is to keep each game set in its own Marvel universe.” So don’t count on the Avengers showing up in Insomniac’s Spider-Man or Insomniac’s version of Peter Parker popping up in Marvel’s Avengers.

The prospect of a shared universe between all of these Marvel games is enticing. After all, that’s one of the biggest appeals of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Still, it’ll be interesting to see each developer following their own narrative for the respective games without worrying about any crossovers.

Marvel’s Avengers is out on September 4th for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Google Stadia. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is out this holiday season for PS5. Check out new details on Miles’ starring title here.

Sony’s next State of Play will be taking place today at 1 PM PDT but that’s not the only interesting development. As Gematsu discovered on Twitter, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales has been rated in South Korea. On top of perhaps being the first PS5 game rating, it’s also an indication of the game’s release date potentially being announced in the near future.

Of course, since it’s a launch title, that means the PS5’s release date could be announced as well. It’s doubtful whether anything will be revealed during today’s State of Play especially with Sony focusing on PS4 and PlayStation VR titles along with third-party PS5 games. But perhaps the open world title could be associated with the other PS5 announcement that Sony is rumored to be organizing this month.

There’s also Gamescom happening by August end with the Opening Night Live event usually serving as a place for major announcements. We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is currently slated to release this holiday season.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales rated in South Korea (Might be the first PS5 game rating—can't remember any other PS5 game being rated.) pic.twitter.com/UWQmEHvnX9

— Gematsu (@gematsu) August 6, 2020