So you’ve beat the crowds, cut through the pre-order confusion and managed to get your hands on a PlayStation 5. The question now is: what to play on it?
Here are a few launch titles that could serve as a jumping-off point into the next generation of gaming.
DEMON’S SOULS
Built from the ground up to harness the power of the PS5, this punishing action role-playing game is a challenge even for the most dedicated gamers.
The original Demon’s Souls, which came out for the PlayStation 3 in 2009, was lauded for its deep gameplay and considerable difficulty. It launched a number of successful sequels, as well as imitators.
The PS5 version keeps all the gameplay goodness from the original and upgrades with gorgeous graphics and stellar sound.
“Demon’s Souls” tasks players with exploring a cursed land, and battling the fearsome creatures that plague it. Be prepared to fail, however, as dying multiple times is expected.
SACKBOY: A BIG ADVENTURE
The star of Sony’s “LittleBigPlanet” series returns in a fun 3D platformer.
The titular cloth-based hero makes his way through the planet Craftworld to defeat his enemy, the villainous Vex.
The visuals are charming — Sackboy can have his look altered in multiple ways through costume components found throughout the game — but the real hit is the fantastic soundtrack.
“Sackboy” also supports up to four players in local co-op, and some stages can only be accessed in multiplayer. If you have multiple controllers at the ready, this is a great way to play.
Online multiplayer is not currently available but is expected in a future patch.
MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES
The latest adventure from Marvel’s web-slinging hero sees Miles Morales, the star of the hit animated movie “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” take over the mantle of Spider-Man from a vacationing Peter Parker.
While structurally similar to 2018’s “Spider-Man” entry on the PS4, Morales proves to be a relatable and likable protagonist who can effortlessly carry his own story.
“Spider-Man” also captures the PS5’s visual capabilities, particularly with the ray tracing rendering of Morales’s bio-electric powers.
The game includes a remastered version of the original “Spider-Man.”
ASSASSIN’S CREED: VALHALLA
The latest title in UbiSoft’s popular “Assassin’s Creed” series, this Montreal-developed game is a Viking-based adventure set in Norway and England.
Like its predecessor “Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey,” this title boasts a sprawling world to explore and conquer. The amount of additional activities available outside the main storyline might seem a little daunting to series newcomers, but series fans will appreciate the game’s scope.
While narratively “Valhalla” is arguably a step back from “Odyssey,” it is still deep and enjoyable, and does a good job showing off the PS5’s lack of load times.
BUGSNAX
This weird adventure game really leans into its tagline “we are what we eat.” In “Bugsnax,” players play the part of a reporter sent to an island full of creatures that are hybrids of insects and snack foods.
The Muppet-like residents of the island, called “grumps,” will task you with catching these creatures to meet various objectives. You will have a few tools at your disposal to accomplish your tasks, and completionists will no doubt try to “catch ’em all.”
The game takes an eerie turn when you feed these creatures to a grump and watch one of their appendages turn into a morsel of food.
“Bugsnax” is the first PS5 game to be made available for no additional cost to subscribers of the PS Plus service.
Digital versions of “Demon’s Souls,” “Sackboy: A Big Adventure,” and “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales” were provided for this report.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2020.
Well, that was quick. On May 18, a respected industry insider predicted a new display technology for the iPad Air that’s expected in the coming days—Apple just announced its latest special event.
The new 12.9-inch iPad Air, the report claimed, would have the same miniLED backlighting currently found on the larger iPad Pro, using the leftover inventory from the current Pro as that model switches to OLED. That was exciting news.
But now, Ross Young, the analyst who made the claim, has changed his mind. The new prediction, shared with paid subscribers only, is that the miniLED technology won’t be coming to the iPad Air, in either size.
While it made sense that the inventory could be maximized in this way, it now “makes sense” that it won’t.
Young says that while he’d heard from supply chain sources that it would, he’d now had contact from “even more supply chain sources” that it won’t.
And the reason this change of heart now makes sense is that this miniLED technology is expensive, so it would be surprising if it made it to the iPad Air, which is more affordable than the Pro.
That’s not quite all the analyst shared. He also said that there are now reports of a new iPad coming later in the year. This is a 12.9-inch iPad, with miniLED backlighting and it could arrive between October and December this year.
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This is intriguing. What could it be? Assuming that the iPad Pro and iPad Air are released in May, it’s extremely unlikely either will be updated later in the year. And if the iPad Air isn’t pricey enough for miniLED to be included, what tablet could Apple be introducing that is the same size as the bigger Pro, with a pricey screen tech, which would sit between the Air and the Pro, it seems?
Young is highly reliable, but this seems slightly preposterous to me. The only other iPad in the range due a refresh is the regular iPad (at 12.9-inches, the iPad mini is clearly out of the picture) and that doesn’t seem likely either.
It seems to me that any regular iPad will almost certainly have the same screen size as now, 10.9 inches. The regular iPad only grew to this size screen in the current generation, and Apple almost never changes designs after one iteration.
Perhaps things will become clearer as the year goes on.
A Calgary woman who abused her sick, 77-year-old father was “overwhelmed” at the task of caring for him, a judge heard Wednesday at a sentencing hearing.
In January, Tara Picard, 52, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life after her father (whom CBC News is not naming) was found injured on a basement floor, where he’d been lying for two days.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence lawyer Shaun Leochko asked the judge to allow Picard to serve her sentence in the community under conditions as part of a conditional sentence order.
Justice Indra Maharaj agreed to a two-year conditional sentence for Picard followed by a year of probation.
“There is no doubt she became overwhelmed,” said Spaner in her submissions. “There is no question Ms. Picard has remorse.”
Leochko told the judge that caring for her father “was really more than [Picard] could handle.”
Maharaj heard that Picard is Indigenous and was the victim of abuse growing up. She lives in a sober dorm-style facility and is working with a mental health and addictions navigator, according to Leochko.
As part of the sentence, Picard must complete 300 hours of community service.
Justice Maharaj commended Picard for “taking that on.”
“That shows me Ms. Picard sincerely does recognize what has happened here,” said the judge.
“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to her community.”
During Picard’s plea, court heard that in November 2021, Picard and her father fought over his drinking.
The victim suffers from a number of medical issues, including diabetes, heart disease, dementia and alcoholism.
At the time, home-care registered nurses were assigned to help provide supplementary care.
Nurses found the victim wearing a soiled adult diaper and suffering from two black eyes with blood on his head.
He told the nurses who discovered him that he’d been there for two days.
Picard admitted she knew her father had fallen and she had “administered a number of physical blows.”
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Leaving her elderly father on a basement floor for two days in a soiled adult diaper won’t mean jail for a Calgary woman.
Justice Indra Maharaj accepted a joint Crown and defence submission on Wednesday for a two-year-less-a-day conditional sentence order for Tara Picard to be followed by 12 months of probation.
Prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence counsel Shaun Leochko proposed a community-based term which will include eight months of 24-hour house arrest followed by a nightly curfew for the second eight months.
Maharaj also agreed with the lawyers to order Picard to commit 300 hours of community service over the length of the three-year sentence.
The Calgary Court of Justice noted that amount of community-service hours was “a lot” to commit to.
But Maharaj said it showed Picard, 52, was truly remorseful for her conduct towards her father, whom Postmedia is not identifying because of the embarrassing nature of the facts of the case.
“What that shows me is Ms. Picard does sincerely recognize what has happened here,” the judge said of her willingness to complete community service.
“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to the community.”
Picard pleaded guilty in January to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life to her 77-year-old father.
Court heard caregivers found the elderly Calgary man on the basement floor of his daughter’s southeast home wearing a soiled adult diaper.
At the time, Picard was responsible for her father’s day-to-day care after he was moved to her residence, Spaner, reading from a statement of agreed facts, told court at the time.
“He had a number of medical ailments, including non-insulin dependent diabetes, coronary artery disease, some early onset dementia-like symptoms and chronic alcoholism,” Spaner said.
“(He) had been living independently in a Calgary apartment building. Family members became concerned that he was not caring for himself safely.”
With the help of Alberta Health Services he was moved to a home where Picard resided.
A registered nurse assigned to his care attended the 38 Street S.E. home on Nov. 15, 2021, to drop off food bank supplies for him and was told he was sleeping downstairs.
When the nurse called about an hour and a half later and spoke to the man on the phone he said he was lying on the floor, had fallen and was unable to get up.
When she returned to the home with a co-worker she found the victim lying on his back on the floor.
“(He) said that he had been lying on the floor for two days,” Spaner said.
Leochko said Picard was overwhelmed by the situation she was thrust into.
“It really was more than she could handle,” he said.
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