PlayStation.Blog » Jeff Rubenstein

So, Today is My Last Day at PlayStation

Jeff Rubenstein — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 00:45:24 +0000

After five years, 5,995 blog posts, and 10,888 Tweets, today is my final day at PlayStation. We’ve accomplished a lot together: we’ve built PlayStation.Blog into one of the most influential blogs in the world, amassed the largest Twitter following in the industry and the 8th most fans in the world on Facebook (watch out McDonalds!). I mention these stats not to brag, but because I continue to be amazed at the enduring strength of the PlayStation brand and its fervent fans, whom I’ve been lucky to serve as Social Media Dudebro since 2007.

PlayStation, specifically SCEA, has been very good to me. I’ve been sent to gamescom, Tokyo Game Show, PAXes East and Prime, Comic-Con, and E3 many times over. I’ve gotten to personally put PS Vitas into fans’ hands for the first time at Social Club events. I’ve gotten to share exciting news, first looks, and big reveals with you, then relay your feedback to the teams that created them. Keep telling us what you think; it really does count!

Most impactful of all, I’ve met thousands of great people — gaming industry, media, and PlayStation fans — some of whom have become true friends.

Now, I’m actually looking forward to jumping back over to the fan side of the fence. Working through my massive backlog of games (starting with The Unfinished Swan this weekend). Buying The Last of Us at a midnight launch. Actually being surprised at E3.

It’ll be a big adjustment for me — but not for you. Perhaps the most important thing I’ve done here at PlayStation is surround myself with people more talented (if not better looking) than myself. Sid, Rey, and Justin are the reasons PlayStation.Blog is as informative, entertaining, and influential as it is. None of that will change when I walk out the door this afternoon. And I guess that’s why I’m at peace with moving on; my work here is well and truly done.

Play with me on PSN (JeffPS) and/or follow me on Twitter (@jeffrubenstein). I’m practicing PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale right now. Bring it, my Radec is ready.

TL;DR I’ve really loved working with, and for, all of you.

Jeff

P.S. — Confession time: I’m the one who spilled coffee all over the break room on October 15th, 2007. I didn’t know how to operate the coffee maker. I regret the error.

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

Jeff Rubenstein — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 16:33:35 +0000

This week’s list o’links is a bit PS Vita heavy, but that’s probably a good thing. Below, find reviews of titles such as Smart As…, Assassin’s Creed III Liberation, Orgarhythm, Ragnarok Odyssey, and the game that has been owning my Vita as of late, Need for Speed: Most Wanted. With Persona 4: Golden, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, and Call of Duty: Declassified dropping over the course of the next couple of weeks, it’s not a bad time to have a commute. For a change.

Enjoy the extra hour today, everyone. You didn’t forget, did you?

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of October 29th, 2012)

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

Jeff Rubenstein — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 16:23:38 +0000

I just peeked at this week’s complete list of new releases (which will publish here in a few hours), and it’s doozy. Two great Assassin’s Creed titles, a new Need for Speed on both PS3 and PS Vita (Burnout fans will love this game), the HD remake of one of my favorite games of all time, and actually a lot more. Forget Halloween, October 30th should be a national holiday this year.

Oh, and if you’re watching football this afternoon, keep an eye out for the Assassin’s Creed III Liberation/PS Vita commercial, which will debut today.

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of October 22nd, 2012)

Finger of Death: See Assassin’s Creed III Liberation’s Touch Controls in Action

Jeff Rubenstein — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 18:42:06 +0000

A bit of advice for Assassin’s Creed fans: get some sleep this weekend. Come Tuesday, you’ll get to immerse yourself in the Revolutionary mythology of Assassin’s Creed III both at home and on the go.

If you’ve been keeping up with our coverage of Aveline de Grandpre’s portable adventure, you’re likely already aware of Assassin’s Creed III Liberation’s open-world gameplay, its crossover with the PS3’s Assassin’s Creed III, and it’s PS Vita-specific features. But showing is better than telling, so have a look at some of Liberation’s (optional) touch controls in action, as AC3L Writer Richard Farreese tells us how the team adapted the series’ new control scheme to PS Vita. Spoiler: they didn’t have to change much.

You’re forgiven for gawking at that Crystal White PS Vita. I haven’t washed my hands since we recorded that footage. Assassin’s Creed III Liberation arrives this Tuesday alongside Assassin’s Creed III, both in stores and via PlayStation Network.

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

Jeff Rubenstein — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 16:01:41 +0000

Any of you playing the PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale beta going on right now? While I think that the ultimate experience with the game is 4 people huddled around a single TV, talking trash and pummeling each other on the PS3 version, I’ve been putting a lot of time into the PS Vita beta this weekend. I’m finding it a very impressive experience to be sitting on my couch, watching football and enjoying a smooth online fighting game experience on a handheld. I just wish you all weren’t getting so good so fast.

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of October 15th, 2012)

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

Jeff Rubenstein — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 17:09:14 +0000

Seems like everyone this week is talking about Dishonored, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and Retro City Rampage. There’s a reason for that – all of them are excellent, and you’ll find more stories on all of these titles below. Also, the next few weeks are shaping up quite well for PS Vita owners: find features below on Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, and a number of games making their way to US handhelds from Japan. And don’t sleep on SunFlowers; I’ve been having fun with that one this weekend as a palate cleanser between playing, well, Dishonored, XCOM, and Retro City Rampage.

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of October 8th, 2012)

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

Jeff Rubenstein — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:45:13 +0000

I’m quite looking forward to this week (and so should you) with the arrivals of Dishonored, XCOM Enemy Unknown, and Retro City Rampage to PlayStation platforms. I’ve played all three at recent industry events, and I’d expect the reviews to come in quite high across the board – good news for us gamers. Heck, even though I’m currently on vacation (we’re in Florida for a wedding), I packed my PS3 to get on these games ASAP. I’ll link to coverage in next week’s post.

Below, find stories on PlayStation Mobile’s launch, Tokyo Jungle, Silent Hill: Book of Memories, and a comprehensive title update for PS Vita’s Madden NFL 13.

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of October 1st, 2012)

Silent Hill: Book of Memories for PS Vita: A New Angle on Silent Hill

Jeff Rubenstein — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:00:47 +0000

I’ve got a gaming confession to make: I’ve never played a Silent Hill game. Never really had much of an interest in the series, even… until now. Silent Hill: Book of Memories is a Survival Horror Action-RPG coming to PS Vita later this month. Like chocolate and peanut butter, this is a mashup I can get into. After sampling the game at PAX Prime, I met up with the game’s producer, Tomm Hewlett, in San Francisco to find out how Konami plans to please fans of both genres.

Jeff Rubenstein, PlayStation.Blog Social Media Manager: How do you adapt an incredibly scary survival horror series into this action/RPG format? Why did you choose this genre?
Tomm Hewlett, Game Producer: We heard about PS Vita, and we really wanted to make a Silent Hill that was specially suited for that. We really wanted to experiment with multiplayer. Survival horror is a very particular genre, but with PS Vita’s online capabilities, it just made sense to do multiplayer here. So we started to experiment with different gameplay styles, what was kind of compelling, and through a long random assortment of events and demos, we came across a dungeon crawler, action/RPG thing which is really compelling with multiple players. Phantasy Star Online does it, and Diablo of course. So then we can kind of mess with it; if I’m with my friends and we get separated, that’s a classic horror trope right there. It’s not a totally different genre that doesn’t make any sense, it’s just sort of a new angle on Silent Hill.

PSB: An important part of Action-RPGs is leveling up and gaining new abilities. What’s your philosophy with that in this game?
TH: It was an odd tightrope to walk, because RPGs are entirely about leveling. If you can’t pass a thing, level up some more. Now you can pass that thing. With Silent Hill we thought – did we want to do that? Or do we wanna keep that fear of if you’re in this situation, you’re always screwed? So when you level up, you can add stat points and build your character however you want. You can equip things and sort of create the ideal build for your character. But then, weapons can break. So this isn’t like the “Gilded Dragon Sword” in Diablo that you want to hold onto. You know that I have a sweet sword, but you know it’s going to break. So do you hold onto it for the bosses, or Pyramid Head if I walk into a room with him? Or do I just use it and have an easy three rooms and now it’s gone.

So we’ve kind of – I hope – found the ideal way to balance building a character: they are getting stronger, getting more moves, more capable. But at the same time you’re not gonna become this empowered demigod and the whole game is your oyster.

PSB: Yeah, power can be the antithesis of horror. Talk about this world that we’re in.
TH: We have seven different environments. Through the initial 21 stages of the game, at the end of which you’ll get an ending, they’re structured so that you’ll get three of each in a row. After that it’s endless, a mix and match of anything. Silent Hill has had many different “other worlds” – it’s had the fiery, rusty one, it’s had water in Downpour. This kind of lets us bring them all back, so players can play it again without being stuck there for 100 hours. It also ties into the story in specific ways.

PSB: If you get an ending after 21 stages, how does the endless part of the game work?
TH: The cool thing about our premise is that you have this book and you’re rewriting your life. So why should I have to re-roll the character when I beat the game, just to try something new? I should just be able to re-write this book. So that’s how we built the game. You’re not going to have all the story elements just by beating the game once. You’ll have a reason to keep playing: unlock everything, find every monster, and so on. The levels will start to randomize and the game will become crazy, and the enemies will keep scaling. I think the furthest our testers have gotten is zone 340, so that’s a challenge to any players out there.

PSB: How does the multiplayer work? Is it cooperative?
TH: It’s co-op by design, but people will find ways to compete and find all the items. It’s important to note that when playing single player or multiplayer, you’re using the same character, so you’re not losing out by choosing one over the other. You can swap back and forth between them as much as you want. Basically, one player is the host, everyone else joins their game. Things you find in your friend’s game will add to your collection, your database of stuff. You can split up, you can all stay in one room. Difficulty will scale up depending on the level of all the players. If you’re a low-level guy in your friend’s game and he’s trying to level you up, you don’t wanna break off from him because you’re going to get trapped and you’re pretty much screwed at that point.

PSB: What do you think is the single most unique aspect about Silent Hill: Book of Memories?
TH: With Silent Hill, the games loosely tie into each other, but you don’t see a direct sequel. By the time someone’s escaped Silent Hill – if they even escape – their story is told. So you don’t get something like with Final Fantasy: “Here’s every single Final Fantasy character hanging out in this rhythm game!” You can’t do that with Silent Hill, normally, but with Book of Memories, you kind of can. So you can finally see these old creatures you’ve loved, and see them interact with creatures from other games. And the story will tie in with other games. So it works as a greatest hits celebration, and an introduction to everything.

I’ve enjoyed my time thus far with Silent Hill: Book of Memories, and look forward to taking it with me on the go beginning October 16th. The Action-RPG elements are familiar, with an aesthetic that I find very creepy, though not nearly as scary as a traditional Silent Hill game would be. Well, at least that’s what I’m told. Now I’m interested in finding out for myself.

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

Jeff Rubenstein — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 16:11:14 +0000

We’re not even into October, and I’m already wayyyyyy behind in my Fall gaming. Despite putting about 20 hours into Borderlands 2, I’ve got a lot to go (love the side missions). Resident Evil 6 is out this week, XCOM Enemy Unknown (looking great) and Dishonored (also looking stellar) are out next week – and I just started Tokyo Jungle. I love it.

I’m stuck heading out to Florida this week to visit some family, and I dont want to slip any further behind… I’m thinking it’s time for my parents get a PS3.

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of September 24th, 2012)

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

Jeff Rubenstein — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:01:18 +0000

With Tokyo Game Show 2012 now in the books, the major gaming shows and conferences season has come to an end. There’s only one thing left to do: play the games we’ve been seeing since E3 (or earlier). The big new release weeks are underway; you’ll see the full list for September 25th in a few hours with this week’s The Drop. As far as TGS coverage goes, I’ve linked out to a number of stories below.

PlayStation.Blog » Jeff Rubenstein

So, Today is My Last Day at PlayStation

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of October 29th, 2012)

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of October 22nd, 2012)

Finger of Death: See Assassin’s Creed III Liberation’s Touch Controls in Action

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of October 15th, 2012)

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of October 8th, 2012)

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of October 1st, 2012)

Silent Hill: Book of Memories for PS Vita: A New Angle on Silent Hill

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of September 24th, 2012)

PlayStation Around The Web: What We Read

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of September 17th, 2012)