PlayStation Optimus Prime to ‘roll out’ for Japan in 2015

By Michael Lee July 25, 2014

playstation optimus prime rollout next year japan edition — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The leader of the Autobots has been reimagined as an original PlayStation as part of a collaboration project celebrating the 30th anniversary of Transformers and the 20th anniversary of PlayStation (via Polygon). Coming in 2015 from toymaker Takara Tomy is the “Optimus Prime featuring Original PlayStation” to go along with the already announced Mega Drive Megatron (Mega Drive being the Japanese name for the Sega Genesis), which is due to be released in September 2014, in Japan.

In addition to the Transformers, Takara Tomy is also producing a line of mini replica PlayStation consoles, celebrating the history of the PlayStation brand.

Currently we only have a concept drawing of the PlayStation Optimus Prime, but according to the PlayStation Community Blog Japan, a functional prototype of the model will be shown at the Wonder Festival toy/hobby show happening this weekend in Tokyo.

With Takara Tomy now hard at work on the second of these console Transformers, can we expect more? Who would be next? An NES (or Famicom) Ratchet? A Dreamcast Jazz? Hopefully these consoles don’t run on Energon, that stuff is hard to find…

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada which is quite possibly the best city in the world. Graduated from NYU with an MA…

Gaming

You’ll finally be able to play Half-Life: Alyx on PlayStation VR2 this summer

Half-Life Alyx being played with a PlayStation VR2 headset.

Sony has finally unveiled its PC adapter for PlayStation VR2, which will be released this August and finally enable players to try games like Half-Life: Alyx with the headset.

PSVR2 sports some impressive tech, but it's no secret that Sony has failed to support it with compelling games for the PS5. Earlier this year, it was teased that Sony was working on PC compatibility for the headset; now, we've learned that this will come in the form of a PC adapter that people can use with a DisplayPort 1.4 cable in order to play VR games through Steam. These are the minimum specs your PC will need in order to get the PSVR2 up and running, straight from the PlayStation Blog.

Gaming

Sony just put one final nail in the PlayStation VR2’s coffin

The PlayStation VR2 sits on a table next to Sense controllers.

PlayStation VR2 has been murdered. The culprit: Astro Bot.

My favorite announcement of Sony's May 30 State of Play was Astro Bot, a new 3D platformer from Team Asobi that celebrates PlayStation history. It looks incredibly charming and stands out from the typical narrative-action games like Stellar Blade that Sony tends to release these days. That said, my excitement also comes with disappointment as it does not appear that the game will support PlayStation VR2. (Digital Trends reached out to Sony to confirm that was the case but has not gotten a response at the time of publishing this story.)

Gaming

Astro Bot will reference one of PlayStation’s oldest memes

Astro Bot and its PlayStation character cameos, which include Aloy and Nathan Drake on the right.

The Astro Bot series is known for showcasing PlayStation history, with some incredible deep cuts and cameos. For the upcoming Astro Bot, which was officially announced during Sony's latest State of Play this week, that apparently comes in the form of a nearly 20-year-old meme.

In an interview with EW, Team Asobi head Nicolas Doucet mentioned some of the characters that players will encounter spread throughout the game's 80 planets. This includes some obvious inclusions, like Nathan Drake from the Uncharted franchise and Aloy from the Horizon games, but snuck into one of the paragraphs is mention of an island in the shape of a giant crab.